Crimson Fox
by Allseer
Summary: Zekros Gremory, distant cousin to Sirzechs, does a lot of stupid, brilliant, things in the name of Avarice. Fleeing from rightful punishment, he and his Knight interrupt some idiot blonde performing a ritual on an infant. Now he's got to setup shop and get money flowing, while recruiting servants and making deals. Did I mention he's a Kitsune. AU,OC, silliness. Cancelled.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is so altered it isn't even funny. And I plan to mess with it extra hard when it comes to logic, hehe. I started this before I thought of the character for Wolves, so sorry for the double red haired MCs. I must be on some kinda red vibe atm. I've set it to M rating in case I feel like getting spicy, but mostly because I spew forth swears like a fountain sometimes. And yes, I am blatantly abusing the Gremory adaptive bloodline. Don't expect a fight in this first chapter, unless you count a random throwaway.

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool DxD so, you know, whatever.  
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Also, sorry to a certain someone. You know who you are. This doesn't count, it's _based_ there. Ha!

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 **Chapter I: Birth of the Fox**

(Zekros Gremory POV)

It was times like these that I, Zekros Gremory, cursed my stupid ideas. Sure, stealing a second Evil Piece set and fleeing to another universe with some obscure spell was a brilliant trick, but the fact was I didn't _need_ to. I'd only actually used a single Knight, to reincarnate a werewolf named Krueger. The mute german man carried a massive zweihander and truly only joined me because I had helped him gain vengeance against a particularly nasty Fallen Angel that had killed his wife and daughter. It was the simple fact that I'd only used _one_ of my pieces that caused an uproar among the Devils after the theft, but I had escaped pursuit quite handily and was sure even my legendary relative Sirzechs would be unable to find us.

And what was the first thing I did upon arriving in this world? I went and absorbed a giant ass fox demon by interrupting some sort of ritual an idiot blonde was trying to perform. It wasn't like I'd _asked_ to be dropped in the middle of it, though the fact that I found a woman strong enough to be a mutated Rook right there was pleasing, the problem was she was recently widowed and now a new mother. And to top it off, I'd just _have_ to take the brat, Naruto, along with us as we fled the area. Apparently people didn't like foxes around these parts, and becoming a kitsune was guaranteed to be trouble, so after a quick conversation with the redhead woman named Kushina Uzumaki, we set a quick pace towards a land she called 'Wave'.

These humans were odd compared to the humans from my own universe, but considering those fools were just starting to use muskets properly it wasn't bad. Truthfully, they were rather similar except for those things called 'radio' and 'movies'. Those were interesting, if confusing, but pleasant regardless. This woman, Kushina, spent a week recovering from her wounds and explaining this world to myself and Krueger. It was irritating, but necessary, to learn all we could of the nations around us.

The only true issue that cropped up was the lack of funds we had. While Krueger and I had made sure to bring some pure gold with us, and it was simply stored in a magically enhanced bag I carried under my black kimono, it was likely that Krueger and I would have to sell our services because gold was a bitch to spend. Kushina was certain we'd be safe to return to Konoha, but even she admitted I'd likely have to cover my two new tails and my fox ears. I could hear Krueger giving a near silent snicker when he'd heard that, and my glare just seemed to amuse him more. I could never figure out if he was mute from choice or injury, but it seemed too impolite to ask him about.

"And just how are you going to explain your son _not_ housing that fox demon Kushina-san?" My question seemed to stump her for a moment.

Her hand came up to scratch at the back of her head, and froze midway as her eyes widened. "You said your family tended to mutate bloodlines they bred with didn't you?" I nodded, not quite sure where this was going. "Then it's easy-Dattebane! We'll just tell them you absorbed him, because that _is_ what you did, with your bloodline! We'll tell the Hokage in private before it goes public, so you won't have to hide your cute little tails long," she snickered as she said this.

In the week and a half we'd spent near each other since I stumbled upon that battle and sealing ritual, I'd been getting adjusted to my new sense of balance with my tails. It took most of my time just to learn how not to hit things with my tails, and my blasted Rook had seemed to devote all her time into her son and teasing the hell out of me about my tails. She was way too chipper for a new widow, and I was completely bewildered by her behaviour for the first two days until Krueger tapped my shoulder and pointed to himself. I came to the correct conclusion that the woman had seen way too much death to react in any way other than 'happy' and it was disturbing, but I wouldn't bring it up because that was her way of dealing with grief.

I had unfortunately joined the club of sensitive hearing with Krueger, and we both could hear the woman cry at night. It was getting softer lately, but we males weren't going to make it worse on her at all so we never spoke of it. I honestly thought the bloodline thing would make perfect sense, but I also believed it was way too damn early to go back to Konoha like this. Those people would get all that grief and anger back instantly on my return, or on Naruto's since we were certain the Sandaime Hokage had been told about the sealing beforehand.

My musings about her request was interrupted by Krueger passing me a note. "We could write to the Hokage," I read aloud. "Request he comes here, and brings the healer you talked about, Tsunade, to check up on the kid."

"That might work," she replied with a finger on her chin. "We could see if he'll bring 'Kashi-kun with him too. He'd be perfect for a Pawn piece."

I gave a hum as I ran through it all in my mind. "I definitely would like to recruit Tsunade Senju as my Queen if all you said about her is true. I feel however Kakashi may need more time among his friends before his grief over his teachers death will abate."

Kushina looked sad as she glanced at Naruto, "Can we at least have the Hokage tell him we're alive?"

"Of course," I nodded. "But get to writing that letter, I'm off to find a proper haori."

She gave a light chuckle as she reached for paper, and I headed off into the town. Truthfully, my new kitsune magic and 'chakra' were practically screaming at me to go somewhere. I'd have to wait on the haori to find the source behind my distress. It took only minutes to realize it wasn't coming from inside the town, and so thanking Kushina in my mind for teaching me the Shadow Clone Jutsu, I created four copies of myself.

Ordering them to dispel themselves if they couldn't find anything, we quickly spread into the forest. The trees here were nothing like the Land of Fire, but that was to be expected from a small island like this. It took me twenty minutes before I finally came upon the source of the magical calling.

Laying there on the forest floor was a young two tailed fox. It was breathing steadily, but it was wounded and clutching a scroll to itself. I wasn't quite certain what possessed me to approach it, but upon hearing my footsteps its head snapped in my direction.

"Lord Kurama!" It cried out when it saw me. "I found you!"

I blinked at hearing the fox actually _talking_ to me. "My name is Zekros Gremory, not Kurama," I replied, even as I bent down to inspect the injuries.

The fox tilted its head to the side. "But you smell like Lord Kurama. And you have his chakra."

"I absorbed a giant rampaging nine tailed fox recently, if that's who you're referring to," I told him, deeming that the wounds weren't life threatening at all, just minor surface cuts.

"Ah, Lady Yasaka will want to know the fate of her grandfather," he sighed. I twitched, _'Yasaka of the Yokai? Her damn dimension is connected here? Well at least she's young and not likely to tell Sirzechs.'_ The thought was only partially comforting. "But that explains my need to bring the Fox Summoning Contract here. And let me tell you the journey was awful. Here you go." With that he plopped the scroll into my hands and disappeared in a _pop_ of smoke.

I stared down at the scroll in my hands before shrugging and putting it into my shirt until I could show Kushina. Dusting my hakama off, I slowly made my way back to the village, pondering my haori design. Black with a deep crimson two tailed fox on the back might work. It'd go well with my hair and tails at least, and would be rather distinct.

With a shake of my head I dispelled the Shadow Clones, finding one's curiosity with butterflies a little odd. Must be the fox instincts, but whatever. Now I had the find a damn tailor in this place, and I barely had any idea of where to start. _'Ugh I need more servants, just so that I can_ have _servants to do things like this.'_ I gave a long suffering sigh as I continued my search for a tailor.

Later that evening, when I showed Kushina the scroll I was given, her eyes went wide. After explaining my encounter in the forest, she showed me how to sign the damn thing and then walked me through seals until I could make them by reflex. When I performed the jutsu a small white fox kit appeared, only to give a single yip and _pop_ away again.

Kushina giggled for a moment before turning to Krueger. "Can I ask you to deliver this Krueger-san? It's probably better if I stay here with Naruto and Zekros-san." I watched in amusement as Krueger sighed before accepting the letter from her.

"Hey Kushina, you want to sign this summon contract?" I ask her.

"Maybe later, once you can summon them properly," the womans snickers were irritating, and I could practically _smell_ the smugness wafting off Krueger.

With my loyal Knight off towards Konoha the next morning, I had nothing better to do than practice summoning foxes and waiting for my haori order to come in. I actually managed to summon a black furred fox named Bane, and he was quite good conversation. His explanation that because I did not originally have chakra coursing through me I'd have to rely partially on my magic until my chakra finally settled into my new form made for some interesting experiments.

My attempts at blending my chakra and magic were highly amusing to him, since the clearing we were in blew up several times because of it. It was after yet another explosive attempt that Bane and I glanced at each other, feeling that we were being watch. I proceeded to grumble to him even as we both casually scanned the area around us.

Bane suddenly let out a surprised yip, "Behind you!"

I'd barely processed the words before I heard a weak, "Can you h-help me," from behind me. I spun around in time to see the bloody body of a teen girl collapse to the ground in front of us.

"Whoa," I let out as I lifted her head up. She had three deep gashes along her side, along with a hole in her shoulder. "What's your name girl?" There was no way I was going to get her a healer any time soon, I'd need an Evil Piece to save her.

"M-Mei Terumi," the bloody auburn girl whispered.

I brought out an Evil Piece from my bag, one that was reaction strongly to her, a Queen piece. "Well Mei-chan, the only way I have to save you will bring you back as one of my servants. Are you okay with living on in service to a new master?" I raised my Queen piece in front of her eyes, watching her focus on it briefly.

"Yes," the word was practically sighed, but the moment it hit my ears my glowing Evil Piece was resting on her chest.

"Mei Terumi, by order of myself, Zekros Gremory, I bid you live. Live and become my loyal and beautiful Queen," my ceremony was shit, but it worked as the piece was quickly absorbed.

The girl slipped into a deep sleep even as I picked her up and rushed back to town, Bane hot on my heels. Luckily for us, the hotel we stayed at wasn't too far from the forest and I was able to slip in unseen.

"Kushina," I called as I laid the girl down on my bed, "I need a bit of medical jutsu here."

She poked her head in before her eyes went wide and she was nudging me out of the way. Her chakra control had apparently sky rocketed without the fox in her gut, so I was content to leave them be even as I checked on the blonde brat. Naruto Uzumaki was a quiet baby, but if he didn't see someone every so often he'd freak out. We'd learned that the hard way when we had left the room to speak as he was napping.

Kushina approached me near silently a short time later. "She'll be ok now, though I suggest rest. Can I assume by the slightly self healing wounds she's our newest member?"

I nodded, "One of my Queens apparently, the girl must have some serious potential."

"I wonder who did all that damage to her. And why was a Mist ninja here anyways?"

"Who knows," I shrug. "We'd best keep our eyes open though, wouldn't want someone sneaking up on us."

"I can send some clones out," she suggested. "They can keep watch easily enough."

With a grunt I left the room heading for the shower, wondering at how easy it was to find worthy peerage members. It seems this world would be far more interesting than I thought.

* * *

(Krueger POV)

I honestly thought my leaders new tails were hilarious. Seeing the graceful man stumbling over himself had been most relaxing. Plus werewolves tend to get along with kitsune fairly well, because of the whole canine thing. _'At least I won't have to learn those jutsu,'_ I thought. Truly I was lucky not to have chakra, and those stupid illusion things Kushina-san explained to us wouldn't affect me at all.

The trip back to this 'Konoha' was much more relaxing than the sprint away. The boat trip was smooth. The trees were absolutely massive, and the peace and quiet among the branches was near perfect. As I was leaping along the branches I heard a quiet _thump_ sound, well it was quiet to anyone not a werewolf. The sound of blades clashing followed immediately after, and I turned to investigate.

It only took me a minute or two before I found the fight, and there among the trees I saw three figures engaged in a deadly duel. It was obvious to me that the two smaller figures, likely females, were being overwhelmed by the larger opponent. In fact, the man seemed to be playing with his opponents as he threw one off him and charged the second.

"Die you trash!" The man had a short blade and raised it to cut down on the girl in an odd bandage dress.

I gave a silent snarl even as I rushed forward, sending the man flying to the dirt with a backhand before any of them could react. I'd seen too many useless deaths over the course of my life, I wasn't going to witness more. I'd also confirmed that these two were of the village I was going to, judging by the forehead protectors they wore.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Apparently I didn't hit the man hard enough. "Just for that, I'm gonna slaughter you too!"

The man was clearly delusional, and he continued ranting even as he dodged the snakes the purple haired girl sent after him. I sighed at the human, even as I leapt behind him with my sword ready. To my surprise he managed to mostly dodge my attack, only recieving a shallow cut along his shoulder. I increased my speed with my second attack and took off his left leg below the knee.

The purple haired girl whistled at the screams of the annoying man, even as she stepped forward to finish him. "Nice work there pal, I'm Anko and that's Kurenai, what's your name?"

I blinked at the woman, briefly wondering how I was going to get my point across. It took me a moment to remember the note I had written to introduce myself for this annoying mission. I retrieved the note and handed it to the bandage wearing girl, who I noticed had interesting red eyes.

"I am Krueger," she read off, eyebrow rising. "I have been asked to deliver a letter to the Hokage of your village." Both girls blinked before they turned to me with curious eyes. "Excuse me Krueger-san, but are you mute?"

My brief nod seemed to surprise them, but I am unsure why. Maybe they thought I was a ninja like they are, but before I could continue my thoughts were interrupted by the purple one, Anko.

"Well ya might as well come with us then, we're heading back to the village anyways," she said, somehow putting the other mans head in a scroll.

I took my note back from Kurenai, but before we could leave Anko and I turned back around on hearing a pained gasp. Kurenai was wrapping her ankle in bandages, looking mildly embarrassed.

"A light sprain," she said, "Nothing too bad."

Before she could try to stand I'd already picked the silly girl up, face entirely blank. Anko howled with laughter as the girl in my arms blushed, demanding to be put down. I simply stared her down until she looked away before I sprinted off in the direction of Konoha, hoping to end this annoying trip as soon as possible. The sound of laughter trailed behind us for miles, until Kurenai threw a few of those kunai back, and we heard a snort of amusement.

Unfortunately, the girl took to chanting after that. "Kurenai-chan has a crush, Kurenai-chan has a crush!" My patience only lasted a few minutes of this before I spun around with a snarl on my face, the wedding ring on my necklace and the one on my hand glinting in the sunlight. "Oh..." she whispered, eyes locked on my necklace. I gave an irritated huff even as I turned and continued on.

"I'm sorry about her," the girl in my arms said lowly, eyes cast towards our destination. "It's just her personality, she didn't mean anything by it."

The silence after that stretched from minutes to hours as we traveled through the forest, and my irritation slowly died as I enjoyed the calm of nature. This land was oddly peaceful, even though it had been through a few wars from what I had learned. That was rather remarkable in its own way.

The sun was getting low in the sky before we finally arrived at a walled... city. _'That is way too big to be considered a lowly village.'_ I was so distracted by the size of Konoha that I completely missed whatever it was that Anko said to the two guards on duty, but I dutifully followed as she led me through the gate.

In a few short minutes we'd arrived at a tower that overlooked the entire village. Perfect place for the leader to work from, in truth, but I couldn't help but find it amusing that they were so open and obvious about everything.

"You can let me down now you know," Kurenai said with a blush. "I can walk to the Hokages office myself, and besides you won't be allowed in as we make our report."

I shrugged and gently let her down, figuring I'd likely have to wait a bit before seeing their leader anyway. As I sat in the waiting room outside of the office, I couldn't help but see the reconstruction efforts underway across the village. _'Zekros-sama is correct, he would likely not be welcomed here so soon,'_ I thought, absently wondering how these people could proceed to repair the damages as if it was a common occurence. A shiver ran down my spine at that thought.

Finally the door opened and the two girls came out. "Your turn," Anko said as she waved her hand at the door. "Try not to irritate the guards, eh?" She snickered as she dragged Kurenai off, presumably to rest.

I made my way into an office with an old man behind a desk, and four guards stationed at the corners of the room, along with two holding to the ceiling. I observed that all of them carried weapons, and from the way they held themselves these were trained killers. I was interrupted in my thoughts by a cough from the old man.

"You can see my Anbu?" The question was rather odd, so I just nodded. "I see, I shall have to have them up their training it appears." The tightened stances of those 'Anbu' upon realizing that I was actually watching them was amusing.

I snickered lightly before I retrieved the letter Kushina-san had written, along with a notepad and pencil. I quickly scribbled a note, even as I glanced at the guards with more amusement than strictly necessary. Handing the note and letter to the Hokage, I took a relaxed stance in the center of the room, hands far from my weapon.

"I have no doubt your illusions won't work on me," the aged Hokage read off, eyebrows rising. "And even if I couldn't see them, my sense of smell is far stronger than you'd believe, along with my hearing. I can hear the heartbeats." All seven non-devils in the room twitched at that information.

I gave a well deserved smirk at one of them who had increased their heartrate after that, and I just knew they understood it by the figures twitching fingers.

"Now Anko and Kurenai said you had a letter for me, so I assume this is it?" At my nod he proceeded to open it, blood quickly draining from his face as he read. I could hear his quickened heartrate far above the others, and as his eyes danced around the paper his coloring slowly returned. "So it would appear," he stated after putting the letter down, "That my former student and I are in for an interesting trip."

I gave another nod and recieved a sigh in return. "This is certainly... interesting news, but you can see the problems that this will cause can't you? Or should I ask, can your master see the problems?" Another nod and the old man lit a pipe he had pulled from... somewhere. I could easily tell it wasn't tobacco he was smoking, and the look in his eyes told me he was glad I couldn't comment on it.

An obnoxiously slow release of the smoke and a sigh later the man rubbed his forehead. "Anbu," he called, and one of them dropped from the ceiling. "Take a team to find Tsunade Senju and order her to travel to the Land of Waves. If she refuses, tell her I shall lock her out of the Senju accounts entirely." The fear rolling off the man standing before the Hokage was intense. "And don't give me that look, your entire team is getting hazard pay. Just don't stand in arms reach and you'll be fine."

The hotel they set me up in was rather nice. It was just a shame that I'd have to wait to travel back with the Hokage, but at least I could explore this place. Not the worst job I've been assigned.

* * *

(Zekros Gremory POV)

Being a devil with the sin of Avarice was awful when one was looking for Peerage members. I'd noticed a wandering swordsman that would have made a decent pawn, except the man was absolutely vile. If those fools were as common as I'd been led to believe, less noble intentioned devils might actually do some insane damage to this world.

Lucky for them I was of the noble intent or with my mind I could create absolute chaos. In the two days since Krueger had left and Mei had stumbled across me, I'd been educating both Kushina and Mei in what it means to be a Devil. There was a lot they'd have to learn, but at least they both had the potential to properly use devil magic. Apparently large chakra reserves will indicate powerful magic stores as well, and that was a most useful discovery.

Mei had seriously taken to the duties of a Queen, going out and picking up my haori, organizing my notes, and keeping track of where everyone was. She'd also displayed a rather puzzling attachment to me, and while it was very sweet, she was a few years too early to be forming something as strong as she had. By the Maou I may not look it but the girl is half of my years, there was absolutely no way I was accepting a fifteen year old into my bed, no matter when they were 'considered' adults.

That was odd in itself, apparently most of these Hidden Villages consider their rank and file Genin, even at extremely young ages, to be adults. That could create so many potential issues that it wasn't even funny, and I was almost certain the Kakashi boy that Kushina described fit most of the painful stereotypes perfectly. It was a shame but until he stabilized I couldn't risk reincarnating him.

We didn't get much out of Mei regarding how she come to us, but from what we could tell she'd had a run in with a particularly nasty nuke-nin, or missing ninja. To be entirely honest, once I'd been assured she hadn't been assaulted I let the matter drop. If I didn't need to go destroy someone there was really no reason for us to dwell on an uncomfortable subject.

Wave was a calm little place, I'd like to invest in an estate here I do believe. It was just a shame I'd have to wait until after Krueger returned, I had found this area to be most amusing. I wanted a base to use, and I wanted to train. My elemental magic wasn't the greatest around, but it worked differently and more quickly than ninjutsu so it would be my fallback option.

"We've recieved a messenger bird," Kushina said, drawing my attention away from my notes on chakra metal. "The Hokage wrote that he had ordered Tsunade to head this way, and to expect them in a few more days once the preparations are done."

"What preparations?" I ask, idly noting her face turning pink.

"I asked from some money from my accounts," she looked a little sheepish. "I didn't want to burden you with trying to supply all of us, my family left a lot of money behind."

I sighed. "Kushina, I was an Ultimate-class Devil back home, even in the lower ends of that spectrum we still made a lot of money." At her inquiring look I continued on, "I may not look it, but I can throw Krueger around as if he was a toddler. His sword skills are far superior, but my raw power made me outlast most opponents."

That was a fact. I had _huge_ magical strength for someone who never properly trained their magic. To be entirely honest, I mostly did business but every so often I'd need to unleash my magical pressure to get my point across, and boy did it. Seeing someone centuries older than yourself fall to their knees because of your power did _great_ things for your ego, let me tell you.

"Krueger and I haven't even started selling any of the gems we brought along," this surprised her, did I not mention gems? Probably not. "I was actually thinking of buying out a couple of those merchant ships to start up business here. Unfortunately my knowledge of ships is mostly theoretical, Krueger is needed to actually inspect them for me unless I want to have them built."

"You rely on Krueger-san a lot, don't you?" The question seemed rather odd to me, but I couldn't place why.

"Yes, he has been with me for several years now and I have come to respect his abilities." That was true, the man had dabbled a little bit in almost everything before I'd come across him.

Oh no, my senses were screaming _Danger!_ to me. "And you've had Mei-chan helping out as well..." Quick, abort, abort!

"Kushina-chan... I can call you chan right?" She smiled and gave a happy nod, oh Maou protect me from silly women. "Well anyways Kushina-chan, you've got a new baby to care for. Not to mention... Well Krueger and I just silently agreed to give you your time. There's no reason to push yourself."

"But I feel useless-Dattebane!" She retorted, slamming her hands on the desk. "Even desk work would be better than _no_ work, and I'd still be able to take care of Naru-chan while I was at it."

I will _never_ understand women, or ninja. I sighed as I inspected the piles of paperwork she had disturbed. Was there at least something in there I could distract her with? Wait a moment...

"Kushina-chan, I may have just the thing." Whoever came up with that damn puppy dog eyes trick should be reincarnated and then tortured for eternity. "I was actually looking to purchase land here and build an estate."

"Yeah? What do I get to do?" I sincerely hoped her son took after her husband.

"Well you get to talk to people about it obviously, purchase it for us, and find an architect and construction team." I could see the look of horror on her face, heh, be careful what you wish for. "It's more exciting than it sounds, honest. And you get to meet interesting people."

"Well I guess..."

"And take Mei with you when you leave the building. You two can bond or something."

I returned to the notes on chakra metal, wondering where I could get enough of the stuff for a proper weapon and gear for us. I wanted to make some shin guards and vambraces, maybe a tonfa and or katana to add a little more variety. The metal was apparently highly attuned to chakra, and just from the knife Mei-chan had I could tell it would conduct devil magic fairly adequately as well.

According to the information I was given, no one group was able to trade with every country equally. A neutral trading company with the skills to protect their own mechandise and the willingness to cause mayhem when insulted may just have some profits. It was something else I'd need to look into more. Oh the paperwork...

I'd also have to get Krueger to help with building a ship that could transport a double Peerage comfortably. That's going to be a hassle, maybe it should be two separate ones? Hmm yes counting the crews, if we make them with extra living and storage space they could be large merchant ships or transports at will. I knew I'd want at least two galleys and a true galleon eventually, you could do so much with them. Maybe some caravels when I get employees.

Oh but the visions I have boys, the visions I have. Given ten years I could be the strongest merchant around. With the fighters to back it up as well, yes. The future was looking bright indeed for me, that it was. Now if only I could recruit that Tsunade. Medics were damn near essential, especially with kids.

I hear Tsunade is quite the looker, and only a few years older than myself. It would be nice to have some respectable conversation with someone once in a while. Krueger could listen, and write rather brilliant responses, but it just wasn't the same. Now I just have to wait.

* * *

(Zekros Gremory POV)

Three days later found me rushing through the hotel, pulling on my geta and haori. One of Kushina's clones had popped to tell her Tsunade was enterring town, with an apprentice. People stopped to watch my twitching tails as Kushina and Mei giggled at my hastened exit. They'd taken their sweet time informing me, so now I needed to rush and greet the guests. Thankfully Mei had reserved an extra two bed room for them.

And there they were, walking up the street. The woman I could only assume was Tsunade had an obviously irritated look on her face, but I calmly smoothed my clothes as I walked to meet them.

"Greetings," I acknowledged them with a slight bow. "Can I assume you are Tsunade Senju?"

A near perfect eyebrow twitched. "You may."

"I am glad to see the rumors are true, Tsunade-sama." Oh this was going to be entertaining. I think my new fox instincts like to tease people.

"And what rumors are those?" I could see both she and her apprentice were confused about this conversation start.

"That your legendary beauty was matched only by your gambling and care for family, of course."

"Wh-What?" Ooh and there's the spark of annoyance. "Just what are you saying?"

"Now, now," Kushina appeared and interrupted. "It isn't polite to tease Tsunade-sama, Zekros-san."

Tsunade obviously hadn't been informed on Kushina's status, if the shocked look was anything to go by. "They told me you were dead." She stated flatly. "You and your kid, along with the blonde brat."

Kushina and I both winced. "I was briefly," she explained. "Zekros-san rescued me and Naruto."

"How do you have tails?" This came from the teen by Tsunade's side.

"I absorbed a giant fox," I deadpanned. "I've got the ears too." My ears twitched to prove my point, drawing a gasp from both women.

"Well come on then Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san," Kushina turned and started walking back to the hotel, effectively ending that conversation.

Baby Naruto naturally enchanted all the women with his chubby little fists. As Tsunade ran some medical jutsu over Kushina, Mei, and Naruto she pronounced them in perfect health. Then she got an unholy gleam in her eyes before grabbing me and forcing me to submit to diagnostics.

She confirmed that I truly was a kitsune, as far as chakra could tell. My chakra system and reserves were rather large and still growing it seemed. I'd probably become a ninjutsu monster in the future, and this pleased me. Nothing says fun like being capable of wholesale destruction.

She also took great, _twisted,_ pleasure in congratulating me for having a fertility count twice the average man's. I am ashamed to admit I froze in shock at that, totally unprepared for a jutsu capable of _reading_ that let alone hearing it. That was a damn logic buster, considering I was a pureblood devil before becoming a kitsune-devil.

It wasn't a secret that Devils, as a whole, had terrible fertility. Especially the male Devils, who even with large harems would be lucky to be blessed with a third child. Two children was almost a rule to our society, because you really couldn't expect more unless your bloodline was extremely fertile.

It's terrible to say, but the fertility bonus was almost worth my hijinks when it came to the Devilkind. Even if Sirzechs himself came to haul me back to the Underworld for my theft, let alone the stolen magic I used to get here, he'd take pause at hearing of my fertility boost. Our people had just gotten out of a damn civil war, our numbers were at an all time low.

Oh sweet merciful Maou, they'd treat me like a breeding stud! Kept pampered, but chained and restrained, never to do proper business or truly enjoy my time, forced to mate with whoever they threw at me. It sounds amazing to some idiots, but that was terrifying to someone with Avarice like mine, I was even greedy with control, no matter how I acted.

I think I may have blacked out for a bit, considering the last thing I remembered was Mei-chan and Shizune catching me as I fell. My shock turned to sleep, and my dreams turned into visions of baby-making. What, I'm a Devil, it's expected of me.

The next morning found me sitting in the common room between our rooms, sipping tea as I calmly reordered my mind. My sin had come back in full force, and plans to expand my Peerage took a backseat to my plans to expand my influence. A proper base here, and proper merchant channels and eventually potential members would come to me. Yes, my greed was strong this morning.

"Good morning," I heard Tsunade greet me as she entered.

I barely glanced up before I replied, "Sorry for my episode, that was news to me."

"So I've come to be told." At my questioning glance she continued, "Kushina told me a little backstory. Full wings and all. She honestly has no tact, and somehow managed to escape your little Queen and her attention just long enough."

"Oh great," I groaned. "So what is my new position in these unannounced discussions?"

"I quite like the longevity bit, and those medical texts Kushina showed me are definitely worth it..." Oh god what is this going to cost me. "But I can't just up and leave Shizune like that, and watching her grow old and wither would be terrible." Tsunade looked rather horrified at the thought. Fuck, her mask was perfect.

"I was planning to make her a Bishop," I supplied helpfully. "I was also going to request you set up a clinic for the town. They don't have a med-nin around here, and the local doctor is getting along in years and prefers to work from near his home on the outskirts."

And like that, my sin was calling to its match. The gleam in her eyes was strong, terrifying in its mad potential. "Shizune too, eh? And a place to set up and practice?"

"Plus food and board," I smiled, knowing how to play this game.

"And sake, can't forget the sake." Her tone was deadly serious, and almost made me laugh.

"Yes of course, the sake." Too bad for her I have demands. "You'd have to accept my summons when it comes to meetings, you know. There's also paperwork involved, but more management than anything, because a Bishop is a fair decent paperpusher. Rooks and Knights are sent to do most work, taking Pawns with them to help carry it along."

Her astounded look made me smile again as I sipped my tea before continuing, "My Peerage is fairly similar to business and your own Hidden Villages in operations. I provide, I command, we all respect each other."

"Are you trying to be the Land of Waves' Daimyo?" She asked.

"If that occurs through legitimate business and supplying of honest protection I have no problems assuming such responsibilities." She suddenly burst into laughter upon my words.

"You do want to be Daimyo!" She accused me. "You want it as bad as I want sake and money, I could see it on you the second I said it."

"I can neither confirm nor deny those accusations upon my person," I replied with a smug grin.

She sat down and set a jug of sake next to her on the table. She could apparently sip sake from it as I could a private bottle of wine on a late evening.

"Well hand me the piece then," she put her hand forward in request. When I handed to her she pulled it back and placed it on her chest. "Don't think I don't see you looking, you get _one_ freebie, I'm not going to sleep with you."

"That's what they all say," I shot in reply. "Tsunade Senju, by order of myself, Zekros Gremory, I bid you rebirth. Join our home and heart, and watch over them all as Queen," I gave her a little ceremony this time, to nice and all.

After the glow died down two devil wings popped from her back, sending her falling forward slightly. "Not a word," she growled at my grinning face. "These are more annoying than they seem."

"I've got tails, ears, _and_ wings Tsunade-san. You won't feel weird unless you get some yourself." I laid my twin tails across the table briefly, catching her attention before I curled them away from her grasping hands. "No way Tsunade-san, you'll have to buy me dinner first, I'm not that kind of fox."

It was my great pleasure to see Tsunade Senju with a full cleavage blush, and the slight nap and mild concussion her fist caused was well worth my time. I awoke around lunch to reincarnate Shizune into the Peerage. Mei-chan brought me several ship builders a few hours later to begin discussions into building myself a pair of merchant galleys. I asked for their opinions on captains for the ships, especially ones with knowledge of the merchants in foreign lands.

The haggling took a while, but two of the ship builders stood tall and proud before me at last. The two promised the best prices and speeds, leaving both ships to launch at fairly the same time. They'd both also worked with several captains, and apparently were both familiar with a pair of brothers that were looking for work.

These two brothers were apparently retired genin from Kiri who'd migrated here over a decade ago and made their names plying trade between Kiri and Konoha in a way that would make both sides happy. The fact that they'd married daughters of merchants in Konoha kept the ties to both villages firmly aligned, so that they could ply a neutral trade.

They'd recently had the ship they were borrowing recalled, and were on shore until they could find a new vessel or two to ply their craft with. I wanted them almost immediately. I asked the ship builders to get in contact with the men and send them my way, and tell them to guarantee multiple positions in offer.

After the men left I took a short tea break, knowing Kushina-chan had found the only man who knew the various places for sale, and had the willingness to do proper business. He was bringing me files on several locations of land around the island, which I was going to use to find a place to set up a compound. Once I had this, and Kushina found architects and laborers, I'd be well on my way to settling in.

The man that came before me surprised me by his sheer size. His arms spoke of well used muscles, and he was almost as tall as I was. Being used to most fighters more compact muscles, I instantly knew the man for a craftsman of some kind.

"Welcome, I am Zekros Gremory." I politely stuck my hand forward.

He shook it with an amazingly gentle grip. "Derrick, town blacksmith."

I blinked in shock at the touch, and looked at him with a new interest. "Blacksmith? Aren't you the man I need to see about land purchases?"

He shrugged. "They trust me with their tools, and I get a bit from both sides of land sales, it's not bad. I've just gotta make sure the money goes to the right people on both ends, threaten to smash anyone trying to pull a fast one, and the village council let's me do business."

"I'll be damned," I laughed out. "Know anything about chakra metal?"

"Enough to make repairs, and a few places to buy it. That's beyond my normal fair so I never put much practice in, you'd have to see someone else about forging something," he replied.

"Good enough for me, any information on where to buy chakra metal and the ore is needed. Ask Mei about purchasing the information needed, she's got more fine details needed than I do."

We sat down and he passed me the first file, which had a portion of sea front along the northern shore. The place was fairly flat, but apparently was heavily wooded and would require me to chop the woods back.

"So what about this one?" I asked, glancing at him.

"The land itself is pretty good, sadly the trees are terrible lumber. The waves on that side of the island are weaker, but its also fairly shallow for a good distance." His notes about the need for extended piers in the event of larger ships was a down side. Those were a bitch to maintain properly. "The next one is a bit better if you want something on the shoreline, especially when it comes to ships."

It was true, the land was better suited for a port. It had a wide and deep cove, with a mild forest covering the land. The notes behind it noted the wood was useful in both construction and shipmaking, and this parcel of land was bordered in the north by a denser forest that I could buy later if I wanted.

A bit inland the land rose up to form a soft but rising hill. If one were to stand atop a tree on that hill, they would be able to see the entire area. It was a square mile of land on the south shore of the island, a fair distance to a civilian but a short run away for anyone with any training. The previous owner had died and left it to the town, so this would be a straight deposit right into the town treasury.

"Have a look at the third one. That might interest you if you do most of your porting from the town." He handed me another file, taking back the first one.

The third option was a square mile as well, but owned by the town and two others. They apparently reside in town and didn't see the need for that land any more. Several rivers ran through the area, forming a lake in the center. The borders of the lands were only a mile from town, out into the heart of the forest on the island.

The pricetags on these made me realize I was definitely going to have to sell some gems if I wanted to have any gold on hand. I gave him a nod as he left, leaving me to think the decisions over. The benefits to both were plain as day to see, but it really came down to preferences. The southern one was much further away, even though it gave me my own land to build a dock on.

However, when one had a dock, they needed housing for the people working at said dock. And that just created a whole flow of requirements. Living inland would allow me to simply wall off and bridge over parts of my land, creating a pretty decent defensive screen. Our compound could potentially be a little mini-Hidden Village of its own, as silly as it was.

Ugh the paperwork involved was going to give me nightmares. Money filled nightmares, but still. I needed Krueger to do more legwork for me when he got back. At least he'd enjoy it, mostly.

* * *

(Krueger POV)

Traveling with the Hokage and his guard was quite peaceful. The forward team kept watch and was rotated every so often, and the guys in the rear kept vigilant for security issues. Of course, I was kept in sight by all of them, but they were at least polite about it. We'd be arriving at Wave soon, and I looked forward to the return of my normal duties.

Konoha had been an interesting experience. Even half destroyed, they carried on with their daily lives. The little silver haired kid named Kakashi had been most demanding when asking about Kushina-san and Naruto. If I hadn't had a separate letter addressed for him that might have caused issues.

I hadn't expected much in way of necessities when it came to the trip, but traveling by cart with an armed guard was certainly relaxing. Of course, that could have to do with whatever the old man driving the wagon was smoking, and I was certain he _knew_ just how easily I could smell that. I wasn't stupid of course, Devils had thousands of years of narutal life, they'd found uses for more than a few herbs the humans still hadn't discovered the existance of.

The Hokage had given me a wink when he started to smoke, so I could only assume he was blocking the scent from his guards somehow. If they couldn't tell that their boss was having a little fun, I wasn't inclined to inform them, it was too much of a hassle.

I'd actually be looking forward to this job being over with, except for the fact that I knew for certain my master had been up to mischief while I was gone. I could feel three separate reactions that occured with my Evil Piece while I was gone and I could only imagine what kind of craziness had been born. I'd likely spend the next few weeks running around Wave completing whatever he had cooked up, so I just hoped Kushina-san had managed to reign him in a little... Oh who am I kidding, she probably got just as excited and he did and fed the nonsense.

"A beautiful afternoon, isn't it?" The Hokage asked.

Seriously, what's the point in a conversation with a man who can't speak. I put up with my King and his antics _because_ he was my King, and his madness held more than a spark of brilliance to it. This man was obviously brilliant, but I had no reason to amuse him.

"You never did explain how you could smell my Anbu," he was blatantly being a politician, it was just unfortunate for him I worked for a businessman.

My raised eyebrow seemed to chagrin him slightly, as he took a moment to cough out some seriously potent smoke.

"My apologies, old habit," he smiled at me.

I snorted lightly and pointed up the road, where it ended at the ferry we would have to take. The journey had been one long vacation compared to what I was used to, as I was usually the 'muscle' of the group when it came to work. I wouldn't begrudge Zekros-sama that, he may have some muscles but I was a werewolf, we were naturally stronger than others.

Loading onto the ferry took longer than expected. Apparently the cart was loaded with a bunch of chests and crates that had to be carefully handled and properly tied down. I helped out a bit, wondering what the old man was bringing along. I knew I should have read the letter before Kushina-san sealed it, she probably caused even more nonsense. Well at least she'd fit in.

The trip to the island was short, and then we had to offload the cargo. The old man seemed thoroughly amused by the glares he was being sent by his guards. Maou protect me from silly supreme leaders.

"Greetings," I heard from behind us. "You must be Krueger-san."

I turned to find an auburn haired teen girl and a buxom blonde woman smirking slightly.

"Sensei, get over here!" The blonde woman called, and to my astonishment the Hokage turned from directing his men and froze.

"Tsunade, you made it already?" Oh, Tsunade. Huh, she feels like a devil, so Zekros-sama had obviously gotten to her.

Speaking of which, the teen gave off a similar vibe, so she must be the same piece. When the Hokage made his way to us, she gave a bow of respect and introduced herself.

"I am Mei Terumi, Hokage-sama. Zekros-sama has sent myself and Tsunade-san to escort you to our temporary residence."

Well that was news to me. Then again, you can only stay in a hotel for so long. Oh well, I tuned them all out and followed along, wondering what was going to happen next. Of course I really shouldn't have, because standing in front of a merchant village was my King, Zekros Gremory, with his tails swaying in the wind and a smirk upon his face.

 _'Oh hell, he's about to make my head hurt,_ ' I sighed in resignation.

* * *

End.

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A/N: I wasn't going to get my new Tossed to the Wolves chapter done today (considering it's barely started), or even early tomorrow so I thought I'd give you this while I get to work. I'll _try_ to get it out tomorrow but I'm not going to ruin it with impatience. I'm definitely going to have to take my time writing so that I don't leave myself without pieces written just because I wanted to sleep all day :)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: If you haven't noticed, a couple of the characters are rather influenced by their primary sin. It's actually rather interesting to explore. I'm accepting ideas for Peerage members, though I have a certain someone picked out for either a rook or bishop (havent decided) under recommendation of a friend.

 **Reviewer Replies: T-B-R, Sandman001** thank you both very much. :) **ARSLOTHES** I'm looking forward to writing them. Trying to take my time and get them pretty though.

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 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool DxD so, you know, whatever.**

* * *

 **Chapter II: Avarice is my Sin**

(Zekros Gremory POV)

I couldn't help the smirk on my face as I watched the approaching party. Krueger was going amusingly pale at the sight of my face, but it was to be expected. He was _very_ familiar with my antics.

"Welcome Hokage-sama, Krueger." I greeted formally. "My residence is open to you and your people. We have been most eager to host you."

"You are Zekros Gremory?" The Hokage was obviously eyeing my tails and ears. "It is nice to meet you."

I smiled slightly. "Come Hokage-sama, Kushina will likely want to talk your ear off." I gestured for them to follow me inside.

He gave a chuckle as he followed. "That she will, I believe. It will be most entertaining."

"Well... at least you're familiar with her habits," I replied, barely containing a snicker.

He seemed to agree with me. "I can only imagine how... exuberant she became after Minato's death."

"To be fair, she had her son to look after." I stated. "We tried to avoid any mention of the event, and any questions regarding her coping. I was going to try to get her to talk to Krueger, since he has been through something eerily similar, but more... disappointing."

The Hokage frowned slightly. "I take it he's the only survivor."

I nodded. "His wife and daughter were too far gone by the time I got there. I managed to have the chance to give him the choice between going on and joining them, or staying and finding the killer." A mild shrug followed me words. "I'd have killed the fallen myself even if he had chosen to accept death, but it likely would have taken me much longer to find him."

"It has been dealt with?" He asked delicately.

"Permanently." I confirmed.

We'd arrived at my study, and through the doorway we could see Kushina teasing Naruto with her hair, a soft smile on her face. The Hokage and I shared a grin as we watched for a few moments, before he coughed into his hand to catch her attention.

"Hokage-sama, it's nice to see you," Kushina had a wide grin on her face.

"It's good to see you as well. So this is Naruto, hmm?" The old man had an unreadable expression on his face. "He'll grow up to surpass even me, I'm sure."

"Please, sit Hokage-sama," I gestured to the rather nice set of chairs in front of my desk, as I took my seat. "And let me begin a tale."

"I'm sure it will be interesting." He replied as he put away his pipe. Kushina had been glaring at that thing ever since he walked in, much to my amusement. "Kushina has called your people 'Devils' and I'm certain you'd like to expand upon that."

I nodded my head in agreement. "A few hundred years ago my people fought a three way way between a God (wince) and his Angels, Angels who had Fallen from their Heaven, and our kind, the Devils." I paused as Mei-chan carried in some tea, giving her a smile as she left the room. "The war... is in a temporary cease-fire, even now. The war heavily decimated the numbers among the Three Factions, especially among Devils as Angels are our natural counter and we lost our Maou, the four powerful beings in charge. We had 72 Pillars, noble families that led the Underworld, before that war."

Taking a drink of my tea, I contemplated my wording. "We came up with a system to reincarnate other beings into devils as our Peerages. We had to replace our population you see, and we as a people are notoriously long lived and our fertility was never great. So with reincarnated devils coming into our society, the descendants of the original Maou came to despise our current leaders. They spread their belief of pure-blood Devil superiority among our kind and start a civil war."

"The pursuit of power has done terrible things to many people," my guest noted.

"Indeed," I agreed. "It is one thing to satisfy Avarice, one of the Sins that guide many of us, but to do so at the cost of others is not necessary. This Old Satan Faction wanted to continue the Great War, and rejected the Evil Piece System that we had put in place. This civil war continued the devastation of our people, leaving only 33 Pillars remaining, while most of the others were extinct or reduced to one member."

"I cannot imagine this was looked kindly upon by the winning side," the Hokage remarked.

"You'd be right. A distant relative of mine became the Maou Lucifer, and he was directly on the front lines. His great power helped turn the tide in our favor, casting down the Old Satan Faction and sending the members scattering to the winds." I gave a mellow chuckle. "And then we have me. I did business during the war, supplying forces with necessary equipment and transporting things. I had to teach a few foolish devils a lesson myself once or twice, but I mostly stayed out of the big fights."

"Everyone is necessary during war, even if they don't feel like it." There was some truth to that. "Sometimes it is the lesser known people who truly contribute the most."

"Indeed, but while everyone else was filling their Peerage with members, I only recruited Krueger after the war. I was feeling... bored one day, and stole a spell that would allow for the transportation to another dimension. So with that crazy idea in mind, my Avarice acted up rather terribly and I let it overcome me long enough to steal a second set of Evil Pieces, escaping with Krueger to this world before they could realise what I'd done." I gave an unrepentant shrug. "They likely wouldn't have been too mad at me, I'm one of the heirs to my family after all, and I was a pureblood myself, but I hadn't used more than one of my pieces. That would've caused all kinds of issues, and I'd grown bored with my time in the Underworld and wanted to explore."

"And so here we are," he said.

"Here we are," I agreed.

"But how did you... come to acquire the Nine-Tails power?" He was obviously trying to be polite about it, but the strangeness of my tails must be getting to him.

"He interrupted the sealing process of the Kyuubi by teleporting into the way," Kushina cut in. "We were rather shocked when instead of it being sealed the power got absorbed into him instead, turning him into a fox himself."

"Kitsune, thank you. And I only count as half, because I'm still a devil." I replied.

"That creates a bit of an issue," the man said while stroking his chin. "The Kyuubi is technically a military asset of the village."

"Which doesn't exist anymore," I said with a deadpan stare. "And implying otherwise will cost you a lot more lives than you believe, if you push the issue."

"I have no intentions of pushing the issue," he replied, shaking his head. "However there will be other factions even among my people that might try."

"If they come after me for some foolish notion I will kill them, their partners, their masters, and take all they own and hold dear as my own. Women, children, and all." My threat was entirely accurate too, I would allow none to escape my wrath.

He winced slightly beneath my stare. "I will stress the point to the Council, but I fear foolishness will still persist." A slight sigh followed his statement before he turned to Kushina. "I have brought what you requested with me, you can keep the cart and horses, consider them parting gifts. You will always have a home in Konoha, Kushina."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." She replied quietly, eyes on Naruto.

"Come Hokage-sama," I gestured to the door. "We can get some dinner, and you can see a bit of the town before it gets too late."

He chuckled, "I certainly would like to see the Land of Wave. I haven't been here in a long time, myself."

"Then let's have some fun, Hokage-sama," I said with a grin.

We spent the next few hours touring the town, taking in the sights, and strolling along the river. It was an enjoyable afternoon to have, and it made me totally want a pipe like the Hokage had just for myself. I'll find one eventually, and when I do it shall never go far from me.

* * *

(Krueger POV)

"You want me to bet _what?_ " I heard my King exclaim as I read about the Third Shinobi War.

I gave a sigh, knowing something infinitely stupid was about to occur, but unable to not watch it. Zekros-sama was currently seated at a table playing cards with Tsunade, while the Hokage and Kushina were out at dinner in the village.

"You heard me," Tsunade challenged him. "You wager fifty percent of the land and of your wealth against my necklace."

"Tsunade-sama!" Gasped Shizune, standing behind her.

"Quiet Shizune, can't you see I'm gonna win?" Ah, she was drunk. The stench of the sake filled the air when her movements disturbed it. That explained a lot, though devils usually have a higher tolerance than that.

I glanced over at Zekros-sama and saw him just as heavily inebriated. Dear Maou how much did they drink?

"I've got a better idea," Zekros-sama grinned. From the look on his face, I was hoping he'd survive whatever he said next.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow in confusion. "And just what is that?" They both had gleams in their eyes that I knew all too well.

"Half the land against a date with you."

For a moment the room was silent, though I noticed Mei's eyes go wide. Then the laughter started and Tsunade seemed to preen with victory.

"Deal!" She grinned. "Look upon my victory, full house." Three queens and two tens, not bad.

The predatory look that entered the face of Zekros Gremory caused Shizune to step back. "Full house," he commented as he laid his cards upon the table.

Tsunade froze as she stared at the cards. He had three kings, along with two aces. Even I was surprised at that, until I remembered he was a businessman with the sin of avarice, so I suspected he pulled a sneaky trick.

"There's no way. You had to have had those up your sleeves." She was shaking her head as she denied it.

In response he held up his arms. "Check my sleeves, check the deck. You lost Tsunade-san, never gamble against me, I've got the Devils Luck." The cheeky grin stayed even as she did as he suggested.

He was outright snickering by the time she confirmed that he hadn't cheated, even if I was a little too suspicious of that. With a grumble she declared she was going to sleep off the sake, Shizune and Mei excusing themselves as well. When it was just myself and my King, I turned to look at him with a skeptical eye.

He gave a grin as he made sure they were truly gone, and then his tail came up with two cards sitting on it. "They _had_ been in my sleeves, at one point."

I sighed and shook my head, glancing at him and then the door. I made a universally known motion which he had no trouble picking up.

"Yes, I'm sure she'd flatten me if she ever find out. Hence why she's not going to, right Krueger?" A grown devil should never have puppy eyes.

I gave a shrug and nodded, I'd seen him cheat people out worse. Though, that was mostly because they were former Old Satan Faction members that he felt just _had_ to get cheated somehow. If it'd been more than a simple date I'd likely have told her, but he had to test the limits on just about everyone so I couldn't blame him.

With a small grin I bowed and excused myself, taking the book to my room. Apparently Kushina's husband had caused quite the nightmare to the Iwa ninja, and I was curious to read more about it.

* * *

(Zekros Gremory POV)

"Ugh," I groaned as I pulled my head off my desk, attempting to look around before I grabbed my head in pain.

I'd apparently fallen asleep working, if the scattered papers were any indication. I bit back another groan as I tried to rise to my feet, only to have a hand on top on my head force me back down. Before I could turn to see who it was I felt an odd warmth pass through my head before my hangover was almost completely dulled.

"Thank you," I sighed.

"You're welcome," Tsunade's voice answered me.

I froze. "That wasn't a dream, was it?"

She laughed softly as she walked around my desk and plopped down in a chair. "So, when and where?"

"I really shouldn't drink that much," I grumbled under my breath. Her snickered told me she'd caught it. "What day is it?"

"Wednesday," the reply was insant.

"We'll go to dinner on Saturday." I hummed briefly. "That will give me time to pick up another outfit and find something else to do, seeing as the best restaurant around is a simple family one."

More snickers met my ears, and I glared mildly at Tsunade. "Sorry," she said. "My old teammate would kill for the chance, and you're acting like it's massive trouble."

"It is," I replied. "I kind of _have_ to make sure you have a good time, you'll pound me into a pulp otherwise."

"Heh, well at least you're trained already," she smirked.

I twitched for a moment before I sighed and started collecting my work. "Did you come here for something, Tsunade?"

"Sensei wanted you to join him after lunch. He wants to discuss what your plans for the future are." The look on her face was smug. "Apparently when someone has the amibition to become a Daimyo out of nowhere he takes notice."

"Don't go giving my plans away," I whined. "It's no fun if they know what to expect."

She laughed softly before standing up. "Well Mei will be bringing you lunch in a few minutes, so you have time to go get changed."

I winced slightly in reminder before I quickly made my way back to my room. No reason to get Mei-chan on my case, she was scary when upset. Thankfully Krueger wouldn't be able to set her off, but Tsunade and Kushina seemed to take great pleasure in rattling her. Poor Shizune, having to deal with all three of them, I could only imagine the headaches she got.

In just a few short minutes I was back at my desk, stomach growling loudly. Mei entered shortly after I did, carrying a tray loaded with sandwiches, some fruit, and from what I could smell, juice. Though there was an odd amount of it, was I having a guest? I raised an eyebrow as she set the tray down and proceeded to calmly sit across from me.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Mei-chan?" I asked, reaching for a sandwich.

She took a drink from her cup before she looked at me. "You're part of a noble family, are you not, Zekros-sama?" At my nod she smiled slightly. "And you understand the rules of inheritance?"

I swallowed my food before I fixed her with a confused look. "Just what does that have to do with anything?"

"Tsunade-sama is the last of the Senju." I twitched slightly, hoping she wasn't about to say what I think she was going to say. "As the last of her clan, she does have an obligation to continue it. I felt the need to inform you about this before anything happened." She was trying to hide her blush by nibbling on a sandwich, but I wasn't fooled.

"I thank you for your concern." Honestly, she was an excellent worker but the crush was a little annoying sometimes. "Tsunade and I are going on a date, not jumping into bed and trying to make children. I'm already aware that if she and I got together permanently I'd have to take another wife to carry on my name, my people are well practiced in that."

Maybe I shouldn't have said that, she now had a spark in her eyes. "Well as long as you're aware, then I'm happy Zekros-sama."

Dear Maou save me from teenage girls. Ever since I told her I had no interest in underage girls, she seemed to start biding her time. If she _didn't_ try to jump me after she turned eighteen I would honestly be surprised. I knew some devils who would have already taken her to bed, but thankfully Lust wasn't my primary Sin. I was actually more inclined towards Wrath as my second most important sin, but it was rather picky on what triggered it.

We ate in silence for a bit, and then she excused herself and gathered the tray, allowing me to swipe another sandwich before she left. That was going to be a problem, but as long as Shizune didn't join her in her plots I'd survive with my sanity intact. Hopefully.

Shortly after she left I made my way to the wing that the Hokage and his guards were staying in. I took note of the blades his Anbu carried, wondering if they were made from chakra metal. With a shrug I waited for them to announce me, getting permission to enter shortly after they called out to him.

The elder man was sitting by the window, gazing out onto the forest. I cleared my throat softly as I sat across the coffee table from him. He turned to me with an unreadable expression, even for someone of my profession.

"We never got the chance to fully discuss your plans, Zekros-san." Oh, he was being serious. I didn't expect that. "What do you wish to accomplish in these lands?"

I took a moment to gather my thoughts. "My immediate plans involve building a compound for myself and my peerage, and creating sources of income." I turned to look out of the window briefly. "Other than that, expanding my peerage as best I can. Somehow get word out to ninja and the missing ninja that a place of work for them exists. Once they know they are safe around me as long as they obey the laws they should come this way eventually." I gave a sharp grin at that. "After all, it's not technically illegal to _be_ a missing ninja, they just tend to commit crimes."

He gave me a stern look. "You do realize that you are practically inviting criminals to terrorize these people, don't you?"

I laughed loudly at that. "I'll even pay people who don't want to work for me to bring the troublemakers to justice. That way we can have them stand a proper trial, rather than political games. It's why I want to be Daimyo, to force the issue if they do crime here, they do their time here."

"You wish to create a neutral prison?" He asked, shocked. "Won't they just kill each other in the jail?"

I grimaced slightly. "No, the prison idea is well intentioned but it would require funding from the other nations that cannot be taken away or stopped. That's just not viable." I shivered at the thought of all that money going down the drain. "If they commit a crime in Wave, they should be captured and tried for this crime. We can then offer other nations a chance to send representatives and evidence to our system to try them for their crimes elsewhere while they are here, so it can be done all at once."

The Hokage blinked at me. "Are you saying you'd keep them safe from other nations hunter-nin?"

"I would indeed. I wish to do neutral business, the best way to do that is to step on everyones toes fairly, so they understand I won't bend for any of them misbehaving." He was snickering just as much as I was now. "Missing-nin could be safe from outside persecution as long as they obey the laws of the land. It would allow for them to work as long as no major crime was committed here. At which point, when we'd tried them for their crimes, we'd send an offer along. There is the problem that I don't want the death penalty in these lands, so if they other nations don't want to let them live to serve out a sentence then we won't try them for the outside crimes."

"I could agree with that," the Hokage replied. "But not everyone is going to. You do realise that you will have conflict with others with this path, correct?"

I shrugged. "Then we simply won't do business with them while we're in conflict, and we'll capture and imprison anyone they send to cause trouble. Though that's a long way down the line, I'd need to become Daimyo first, and to do that I need people and money."

"You have some excellent people," he pointed out. "And Kushina requested a lot of money along with items to come along with me. Though, she did snicker at our attempts to place fuinjutsu that would trap anyone not related to Kushina if they tried to open it. I guess I need more practice."

"Life has a habit of requiring lots of practice," I replied.

"So you plan to truly claim neutrality then, like the Land of Iron?"

I nodded. "In essence, though they stay out of issues not regarding them entirely. I'll have no problem selling to both sides of a conflict, as long as they are aware that I will crush any attempts at sabotaging my business." My wrath was making a slight appearance with my avarice. "I have absolutely no issues with beating an opponent down and forcibly taking reparations from them, at all. The fact that I will punish any attempts on my people with overwhelming fury and do it without care of stations in life or nations will make people more likely to behave. I do believe bolts of lightning falling from the sky and destroying things is equally impressive here, no?"

The old man lit his pipe with a slight snicker. "Yes, I do believe calling actual lightning from the skies would keep most on their toes."

"We're not going to have problems, are we Hokage-sama?" It was always wise to know where you stood.

"No, your belief in protection of others matches our 'Will of Fire' quite nicely, so I will have no issues with legitimate businessmen plying their trade." The grin on his face reminded me I'd have to fill my ranks some more before I could play with the true big boys.

I shook the mans hand even as I thought about the chances of him messing with my plans. As I walked out I decided it was highly unlikely, and I'd be better focused on his people than the man himself. My ideas weren't in his way so he'd have no reason to mess with me, I hoped.

* * *

(Krueger POV)

I was tasked with collecting the opinions of the others on the two properties we could buy. That wasn't actually as hard as it sounded. Mei and Kushina had come from water based countries, at least in Kushina's original village, and while both would like the seaside land they found the potential of the land with the lake over the benefits of a private dock. Tsunade and Shizune simply would prefer to remain closer to town so they didn't have to travel far in case of emergencies.

After they all agreed on the inland purchase, I had to go through and mark basic plans and workers we'd have to hire. There were three rivers that cut through the land to form the lake, and two of this rivers split and connected to each other in the north, forming a smaller lake and an island of land among the rivers.

We were definitely going to need a bridge builder. Just at a glance I knew for certain our lord was going to want to build on the island portion. That'd be at least four, possibly five bridges we'd need to construct, and they'd have to look good _and_ last a long time. That was going to be costly. Though the southern river went directly through the town to the port, so that could be used to some degree.

We were going to need carpenters and architects for the main structure on the island, the walls around the land, and the housing and other necessary structures. Some woodcutters would be necessary to clear the land, creating lumber we could use on the construction of the compound.

As I wrote suggestions down, making minor drawings here and there, I realized we'd likely benefit from some farmland inside the walls and marked down the need to find a viable section. I'd have to get Mei to help me deal with all these people, she could handle the questioning before we sent candidates on to Zekros-sama.

"Here is your tea, Krueger-san," Mei said as she set the glass in front of me.

I gave a faint smile as I passed two of the pages I was writing to her to read.

"Oh my," she said after skimming it over. "That's a lot of money we'll have to deal with."

With a shrug I recalled the fact that Zekros-sama and I had converted most of our money into the gold and gems we had brought, along with several priceless items they couldn't risk anyone finding. I'd be granted my own piece of the land if I wished to settle down, but I still remembered two faces far too clearly to think about that right now.

I took a sip of my drink as I read over the final two pages, detailing items we would likely need, and workforces we would have to direct. After I confirmed that every thing I could imagine had been written down, I passed those along to Mei and grabbed a new item to read through.

It was a request for a meeting from the two captains Zekros-sama wanted to hire. This wasn't really my area of the background work, so I passed that one along to Mei for her or Tsunade-sama to handle. Poor Shizune was handling the deals for a clinic to be opened in town, and from what I could tell Tsunade-sama was running her ragged.

Kushina was tracking down merchants who traded in chakra metal, and apparently trying to get in contact with a blacksmith from Konoha that could work the stuff. Zekros Gremory ran his people like a family business and trusted in us to handle the duties to the best of our abilities, and to admit when we needed help before an issue could rise.

I came across a message from the shipbuilders next, and read that they had come to deals for properly treated wood to be shipped from Konoha and Kiri, and that they expected arrival between one and two weeks. They were already gathering all the other necessary materials and setting them aside for the project to begin. That message could go straight to Zekros-sama, so I set it aside.

The Hokage had left earlier today, and once he was gone Tsunade-sama had been asked to contact an old friend of hers for any information on potential recruits. Apparently priority was given to younger or older recruits, since they were at a higher chance of death. We weren't against recruiting from inside a village either.

My lord has a date with Tsunade-sama tomorrow. They honestly don't even seem the types to be interested in each other, but what do I know, my wife had had to smack me over the head to catch my attention. I probably couldn't tell a good relationship from a bad one.

I set to tracking down the owners of the properties, it would seem I'd have to request the blacksmiths assistance. Maybe I could take Kushina and I could get my weapon checked over by another experienced eye. It never hurt to have a second opinion of your hard work towards maintaining your weapon. Maybe the man could help in finding a bridgebuilder? It would be worth asking at least.

* * *

(Zekros Gremory POV)

Everyone was giving me disturbing grins today, and I noticed Shizune-san giving me pitying glances when she thought I wasn't watching. Was I expected to crash and burn or something? I twitched slightly when I noticed they just wouldn't stop staring, so I left to my chambers to get ready.

I'd replaced my normal black kimono with one in a deep blue, dark enough to contrast with my hair but not conflict with it. Things like this were important when one had a vibrant hair color, such as mine. I'd planned to have a nice dinner, and then take Tsunade to the one gambling hall in town, though nobody knew about the second part It would hopefully be an enjoyable evening.

I returned downstairs to await Tsunade, and it gave Kushina great amusement to tease Mei-chan, who was blushing a red to match my hair as she looked at me. I tuned them out as my fox ears picked up the sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs, so I tried to present myself properly. I lost most of my composure when I saw what the girls had convinced Tsunade to wear, a button up shirt that left a fair portion of cleavage showing, and a flowing skirt that reached her ankles.

"I feel like an idiot," she grumbled as she came to a stop in front of me.

"Y-you look great, Tsunade," I swallowed the lump in my throat, desperately trying to keep my eyes from wandering.

Her slight scowl lightened as she saw me twitching to make sure I behaved myself, and she laughed softly before grabbing me by the arm. "Well come on then, no time like the present."

I found myself dragged from the villa, much to the laughter of the others. Tsunade politely returned lead to me when I'd finally pointed out, after a few minutes of walking, that she didn't know where the restaurant was. I gave a slight chuckle as she pouted while following me.

Our destination wasn't the fanciest place ever, but it was clean, the food was good, and the people were polite. We were led to a semi private table in the back, well away from most of the others. The townspeople were certainly happy to have a legendary medic-nin reside here, but they weren't dumb enough to want to antagonize her.

We gave our orders of yakitori, tempura udon, and gyoza . We'd also ordered a decent amount of sake to go with our food. I was definitely going to have to hire a chef if I wanted food that wasn't Japanese, but I found the tastes mostly to my liking when I came here.

"This is a rather nice place," Tsunade commented as we waited for our food.

I gave a small grin. "The yakitori is excellent here."

"You've been here before?" She asked, idly tapping the table.

"I found this place when I was exploring town last week. You're the only one of my Peerage that I've introduced it to." I was leaving out the part where a teen with rather interesting blue hair had led me here. I'd bought the girl lunch in thanks, but she was so shy I didn't get much more than her name, Tsunami, from her.

"Well I'm flattered," she replied with a smirk.

I laughed lightly, "I think you'll like the next part even more."

"Oh? Not going to tell me what it is?"

I was saved from starting banter by the arrival of the food, and Tsunade had her attention firmly affixed to the smells coming from it. We enjoyed the peace as we ate, usually having to deal with Kushina and her antics at any meal together. The sake wasn't all that remarkable, but it did its job and helped make the dinner more entertaining as we began to tell jokes over the meal.

We were laughing as we left the restaurant, and Tsunade turned to me with a gleam in her eye. "So where are we going?"

"I'm not telling," I smirked, as I took her hand and started to gently pull her in the right direction.

She gave a few half-hearted grumbles as she followed me, curious at my plans for the evening. It didn't take long to get there, and when we arrived outside the building the spark that had dimmed slightly came back full force and then some.

"A gambling hall?" She whistled. "You sure know how to treat a lady."

I snickered. "Yes well, you're a rather unique and entertaining lady." She gave me a look, but I just grinned back. "I've got a few thousand ryo to play with, nothing special, but enough to have some fun."

"Right," she grinned back. "Have to limit ourselves after all, with our combined greed we'd never leave."

"Especially with you losing and convincing the idiots to bet against me," I laughed, opening the door. "Avarice is my sin, Tsunade, do you really think I'd bring you anywhere else?"

We managed to make the fun last well into the night, Tsunade losing money and me trying to win it back. Not counting the money which had been spent keeping us drunk, but not stupid, we'd managed to walk away with half of our starting money. They were mostly sad to see Tsunade go, but considering I'd won most of what she'd lost back they were happy for me to leave. We returned home that night with smiles on our faces, laughter in our hearts, and an enjoyable memory.

* * *

End.

* * *

A/N: I made this a bit shorter than I'd originally intended, but that's because I moved a few ideas into the next chapter planning to create a better flow. I hope you enjoyed the amusing date, my friend and I had a laugh about the idea. And about the cards, I haven't tried to play poker since I was like, 12. I was always more of a blackjack guy myself, so while I did look up different rules on poker, and tried to make it accurate, please point out (with reasoning, please!) if it is incorrect.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I have this odd desire for blue to go with my red. Also, think of the Sins as a sort of racial instinct for those with stronger connections to their Sin. I also feel I should point out, do to the reviews which don't seem to think about how difficult it is to truly set up something like this and get the ages and details right (at least the ones I'm not messing with) that A: Zekros doesn't call Minato an 'idiot blonde' in front of Kushina, it was a description in his mind. To claims of being OP, the average ninja is actually compared to low and mid class devils, the ones that stand out tend to get 'known' and obviously would be 'canon' characters at upper mid to high class. I'd rate adult Kakashi as an upper high class to be honest. Maybe low ultimate. Zekros is ultimate class through a portion of power (basically, slightly above average high class skill with much higher reserves), prestige from his family name, business deals, and sheer connections. Lightning falling from the sky, and fire erupting from nowhere is awesome in Naruto, but the actual elements themselves are much harder for anyone to control, hence it being more impressive to BRING A BOLT down on something. It's not like he suddenly knows a bunch of jutsu or anything, besides summoning and shadow clones, but tbh shadow clones seem super easy for anyone with a magical understanding to learn. :D

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool DxD so, you know, whatever.**

* * *

 **Chapter III: Business, Pleasure, Paperwork**

(Zekros Gremory POV)

I spent the sunday morning after my date practicing summoning with Bane, avoiding the gossiping women with all my might. I'd somehow managed to mix my still growing chakra with enough magic to summon a rather scholarly grey three-tailed fox who sat and chatted with us over a nice cup of tea, Krueger had been gracious enough to retrieve it for us, seeing as I wished to avoid the females. That probably wasn't the best idea because he came back with a smirk on his face, but it was necessary.

The fox, Alphus, had been around for quite a while, and was quite well learned. He suggested I learn how to walk on water and trees before attempting to mix any more of my magic and chakra, an exercise that had completely escaped Kushina's mind it seems. That was amusingly like her, and we shared a laugh about it.

After the foxes had left, I settled into my office to look over a list of the meetings I was required during. There was a meeting scheduled with the two brothers who were potential captains for my future ships, so that was interesting. Another meeting sometime after that was with a bridge builder to discuss work on the bridges we'd need to cross the rivers. I wonder if he does other work on the side, he could have some potential.

I was running the bridge builder over in my mind, thinking about the uses we could get out of one when I came upon a brilliant idea. A bridge to the mainland would be most useful, especially for overland trading. When I tried to be installed as the Daimyo, I would need exceptional plans to get this country even more money than it was currently making. Funding a portion of a bridge project to the mainland against the towns contribution could see the project come to fruition, because it was simply insane to try to fund that on my own, no matter how much Kushina contributed.

Though, I could probably get her to fund a portion of it as well, maybe name the bridge after her. The Uzumaki Bridge could serve as a name, I suppose. I was rather bad at naming things, I usually left that to others. I was yanked from my thoughts by a knocking on the office door.

"The candidates are here to see you, Zekros-sama," I heard Mei call through the door.

"Send them in Mei-chan," I replied, straightening the files on my desk.

In walked the two men that obviously wanted the jobs, if the stiff stance and slight tension of their shoulders told me anything. At a glance you could barely tell these brothers apart, only upon closer inspection would you notice one had a scar across his left cheek and was a few inches shorter. The taller man had a tanto strapped to his side, and the obvious build of a close fighter. They were both obviously in their thirties.

"Greetings gentlemen, I am Zekros Gremory," I nodded to them, my face blank.

The scarred man nodded in return, "I'm Hanbe, this is my brother Hidaka. We were told you were looking for ship captains."

"Indeed," I confirm. "I am in the process of having two galleys built for trading purposes. I find the need to recruit able men to crew these ships, and am willing to send escorts along with them to negate the need to hire ninja from the other nations to guard it when necessary."

"Merchant galleys eh?" The tall man, Hidaka, spoke. "Haven't been on one of those since we started. Crewing it is annoying though."

"So I've been told. I'm willing to leave the crews to you men if you want the jobs, as long as they are the right sort. Wouldn't want one of your men trying something against one of our females and leaving you without an able crewman, would we?" I let a slight smirk show at the thought.

Hanbe snickered lightly. "If they tried they'd find Hidaka and I to be just as violent, if not worse. Wouldn't be able to look our wives and kids in the eyes otherwise."

"Oh, you have children?" This wasn't in the file Mei provided me, though it had stated the wives lived in Konoha.

"I have four year old boys, twins, and Hanbe has a two year old daughter," Hidaka supplied.

"Any thoughts towards moving your family to Wave?" I asked.

They both shrugged, but Hidaka gave a small smile. "Wasn't enough work out here, or any places we could buy. Maybe in the future though."

I laughed lightly. "Gentlemen, did you not perhaps here of me purchasing land outside of the town?" At the nods I gave another short laugh. "We'll be building plenty of houses, I see no reason why employees families can't live on my land."

Needless to say, they promised to think about my offer. I knew it was only a matter of time before they accepted, steady work and a stable home appeals to many. Heh, maybe in the distant future when kids are running around the place the two of them can teach a few tricks to the next generation. It was a thought, at least.

Just a short time after they left Mei sent in the bridge builder, a man in his forties he looked like he enjoyed his drink. I twitched slightly at this, but smiled minutely. He had seemed normal on paper, but of course nobody ever notes down anything about the eccentric master craftsmen, no.

"I'm Tazuna, they said you had work for me?" The man looked totally uninterested in my desires. Wow.

"Yes," I drew out slowly. "I have recently purchased a rather river crossed area of land, and I'll need at least five bridges. I have an idea for another project larger than all five, but that will need to be discussed with whoever I hire."

"Heh, quit your joking," he laughed. "I'm the only master bridge builder in these parts." He puffed his chest out proudly as he said that.

"Oh?" I ask. "And what are your dreams for the future?"

"W-well," he stumbled at the unexpected question, "I think I'd like my daughter to live a long life. Maybe get a grandkid or two to pass the skills on. Course, not just any man is good enough for my girl."

My smile grew slightly. "Your daughter, does she work?"

His eyes narrowed slightly, honing in on me with a calculating look. "She mostly stays at home, buys the food, takes care of me."

"We really need someone who can cook around here, you see. And I'm feeling an amusing mood today, so let me explain in." I paused for a moment thinking about how best to introduce him to my kind. "Come, sit, sit. Now tell me, have you ever heard of Devils?"

* * *

(Tazuna POV)

I sat there listening to this young man explain an entire fantasy race, only to be shocked when he revealed he was almost a decade older than he looked, and then bat wings sprung from his back. I could seriously use some sake right about now, but Tsunami made me leave it at home. Oh boy I could feel the migrain this was going to give me.

"So in essence, what I really need to ask is if you'd consider joining my Peerage." Zekros Gremory spoke.

Hold on, that word. That was what he called those other devils right, the ones that served under another high ranking devil. Now wait just a minute...

"You want to turn me into a devil?" I ask, entirely confused.

"Yes," he nodded. "I would also like to extend the offer to your daughter. Think about it, thousands more years added to your lifespan together."

That was certainly tempting, but still. "I'll have to think about it, can I come back tomorrow?"

"Of course, of course. Either job offer is open without the requirement of the other, though taking both would certainly help me, personally." The man joked.

I said the goodbyes, did the handshake, and left as quickly as I could without seeming to. I was going to need to have a discussion with my daughter. And sake, yeah, better get the sake first.

My daughter found me when she got home a few hours later, idly sipping sake at the table and staring at the walls. She watched me curiously for a minute or two, putting away the groceries she'd brought home. I think the silence is what finally made her cave, as she made herself some tea.

"Father, what has you so worried?" Tsunami finally asked me while frowning.

"Devils," I croaked. "Devils are real Tsunami." I supposed the hours alone with sake got me a little worried about the devil idea.

"What are you talking about?"

"That Gremory man, Tsunami." She blushed for some reason. "He and his whole group are Devils, living among us as calmly as anyone else."

"Now Father, if he didn't give you the job there's no reason to insult the man," she scolded me.

"Job? He gave me more than one offer Tsunami. He's a real Devil, wings and all. He showed me," I protested, taking another drink of my sake.

She raised an eyebrow at me and folded her arms. "And?"

"He said he could turn us into Devils as well," My statement cause the second eyebrow to join the first. "Longer lifespan, better physical fitness, and wings. The whole thing. Even has a bunch of work for me, even if I don't take the offer."

"He wants me as well?" She asked.

"You too," I confirmed with a nod. "Says he needs someone to cook up there. He's even building a huge compound, complete with living. Would probably want us to move up there once it's done, come to think about it." I stroked my chin as I thought about it, though I really did like my house.

She sat down at the table with her tea. "And what did you tell him?"

"That I'd have to think about it. I'm supposed to go back tomorrow." The offer was interesting, at least.

"So you came back and drank after a job interview?" Narrowed eyes caught mine in challenge.

"Er, yes?"

"So what are we going to do?" I cautiously put down the sake at the glare my daughter was giving me.

"Let's sleep on it," I replied. "Now, what's for dinner?"

If there was one thing I knew, it was that it was likely to take all damn night to make this choice. At least I didn't have to be anywhere in the morning, the hangover was going to be awful.

* * *

(Zekros Gremory POV)

I used my morning for tree climbing exercises, on the advice of Alphus. I also spent an unfortunate amount of time exploding off the trees and landing on my ass. Bane and Mei, who were helping me with the exercise, also laughed every time it happened.

"It takes a steady output, Zekros-sama," Mei supplied with a giggle.

I gave a huff as I tried again, however this time I didn't manage to stick properly. Just my luck. _'This is going to suck,'_ I thought, going back to the tree. Once again I was blasted from the poor tree, ripping the bark off in the process.

Several hours later, after lunch, I was nursing a bruised rear and tails in my office, going over my paperwork. The land purchase was going to be finalized soon, and my peerage members had finally located a source of chakra metal, though it was from Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning. Apparently Kushina had bad experiences with Kumo ninja, so she was definitely out when it came to first meetings, I wouldn't want to have to go on a rampage for some reason. That reminded me, I need to practice my devil magic some more later.

I'd also have to hire transport there since my ships, obviously, weren't ready. Those would take several long months to finish, even with the apparent skill the natives had at the job. I'd definitely have to take Krueger, going somewhere that heavily influenced by swords and not taking him with earn me a silent mutiny until I apologized properly. That man took pride in his skills, even if he couldn't brag about it.

Tsunade might be able to go, those travel rights she had were impressive. And I would get to travel and find all those new interesting places I can later teleport to. Devil magic was such a cheat, heh. I wrote a quick note down for later as I heard someone approaching the door.

"Come in," I called after a knock.

Tazuna entered my office, followed shortly after by the girl that had led me to that brilliant restaurant. Tsunami, was it? Well that was amusing in a way.

"Are those job offers still open," Tazuna asked gruffly.

I blinked for a moment. "Yes, which ones?"

"All of 'em. I figure I might find the time to teach a few apprentices with that kind of life span." The elder man replied.

"Do you intend to teach them about the aspects of carpentry and mason work that goes into bridge building?" I asked.

"Of course, what kind of fool do you take me for?" He asked, eyes wide.

I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing. A short conversation followed about general reincarnation things, and I summoned two Pawns to reincarnate them. I invited them to join everyone for dinner tonight, so that we could introduce them properly, and they shortly after excused themselves.

I was near to pulling my hair out as I tried to make sense of all the numbers that had been reported, estimates figured, and what our remaining balance was. As far as I could tell, even with Kushina gifting us with a large portion of money that came from Uzushio before it met the forces of the three nations attacking it, we were actually rather low on funds, most of it already invested into property, building, and funding other projects. I desperately needed to start actually making cash and not simply investing, and so it was with great reluctance I called for Krueger and Tsunade.

Their reactions to my estimates were different, Tsunade twitched and looked like she wanted to strangle me, and Krueger leaned over my desk and started organizing all the papers he could to get a proper look. He didn't like the situation either, and it was obviousy he was running through a couple schemes in his head, but the man was more warrior than trader.

We would have, after all the construction of the compound and the ships, just over a million and a half Ryo. This could sustain us briefly, but if we didn't bring in more it would disappear rather rapidly. And so I turned to our most experienced ninja, Tsunade, for advice.

"Do you think you can put the word out about A and B-rank missions being able to be done by us?" I asked, causing her to look at me in surprise.

"Yeah, I could, but really the only mission fit people are you, Krueger, and Mei. I'm not entirely sure just how highly ranked you both are, but Mei probably couldn't handle a B-rank on her own." Her analysis was accurate, to a degree.

"Krueger is likely able to handle a high B or low A on his own, or with Mei-chan accompanying him." I responded, idly checking over Krueger's bookkeeping efforts. Poor chap. "I should be about that myself, if not in pure combat ability like him, then in my much more vast energy reserves."

"Well if you're sure about that," she mumbled while looking disbelieving.

"I feel the need to travel," I explain. "Avoiding Kiri, which has those pesky internal problems cropping up, I'd like to explore more of the land we reside in. During this time, I could easily do missions on the side while out there. Though, I do need someone to sign the fox contract if we want to pass messages properly."

"Jiraiya could probably be asked to send a message about potential work appearing if we want," Tsunade said. She tapped her chin briefly in thought. "What about having Mei sign it? If Kushina already made indications she doesn't feel like signing it, and really who in her situation would, then because of Krueger's lack of chakra you best bet is Mei." She shrugged as she continued, "Shizune and I already signed the slug contract, so we're out."

I nodded with a smile. "That could work, but it'll have to wait until after I get proper control so I can summon the contract holder and introduce myself. Having another person sign it, according to Bane, would be highly insulting to the rest of the foxes, even if the contract seems to stay in our realm just fine."

A sigh broke our discussion, and we turned slightly to see Krueger pointing a finger between the two of us. I was completely confused until he passed a note with a simple response, 'Medic-nin', on it.

"Oh," Tsunade said slowly. "I suppose I would be the best person to teach you control, yeah." Oh crap, why did I feel like this was a bad thing. "Ok Krueger, you're on administrative duties while I train our King!"

She dragged me from the room to my immense shock, Krueger's smirk, and her own amused chuckles. She finally dropped me in front of the biggest tree in the yard, pointed at it, and then cracked her knuckles. Having seen what her fists could do, I quickly started trying to climb. And so followed an hour of trying to control my growing chakra reserves, until she got frustrated and dragged Shizune and Mei out of the villa and into the yard.

"Use senbon girls, it'll teach him how to dodge and how to climb while under stress." I paled at her evil laughter. Note that avoiding women when they want to tease you can lead to disastrous results.

"I'm sorry Zekros-sama," the girls chirped. "But it is for your own good."

Sweet Maou they were serious! I had to jump to avoid a couple of low aimed senbon needles, and unfortunately pushed too much chakra out when I landed, making me go flying again. I rolled to a stop and had to push myself up to avoid more senbon, yikes.

"What'd I do to you girls?" I asked as I raced back for the tree.

"You took Tsunade-sama to a gambling hall," they replied with far too much sweetness.

Wait, what? "She seemed to like it," I protested while Tsunade nodded her agreement.

"That is still not proper dating, Zekros-sama," Mei replied, an innocent expression on her face.

I didn't get to protest much more over the next few hours, and when I'd finally managed to stick to the tree as the sun was coming down they started giggling as if they were mad. I will never again claim to understand women, especially the younger ones. When Kushina came out to call us for dinner, she saw me hiding while sticking to the far side of the tree, the side facing the others covered in senbon.

A solitary snicker told me I'd likely hear more about it later, but first, I had Peerage members to introduce. Excellent! I went through a rushed shower, got dressed, and made my way to the front doors. As I waited I idly wondered about the wisdom of bringing two true non-combatants into a Peerage, but decided that I'd need their skills eventually, even if it wasn't for combat.

 _'Besides,'_ I thought as I finally heard a knock on the door, _'I'm not likely to need a combat dedicated Peerage, what with the second set of Evil Pieces I have.'_ I carefully schooled the smirk off my face, opening the doors for my guests and giving polite greetings. I'd normally get someone else to bring the guests to dinner, but I felt since I was introducing two new members that I might as well do it personally.

"Everyone," I called, gathering the attention of my Peerage as I entered the dining room, "I would like to introduce you to Tazuna and his daughter Tsunami, my new Pawns."

Tazuna was wide eyed at the attention, and Tsunami was blushing heavily. The blue haired girl managed to wave weakly, before she looked down in embarrassment. Aw, that was adorable.

"And this is my Peerage, my Queens, Tsunade and Mei-chan," They both waved slightly. "My Rook Kushina, Bishop Shizune, and my Knight Krueger." They all gave nods, but Kushina was distracted feeding Naruto, the little guy. "And the kid with the whisker marks is Naruto Uzumaki, Kushina's son."

"Ah, hello," Tazuna said. "Didn't expect so many of ya."

"I work fast," I said with a grin.

"I can see that." The man looked like he needed some sake, heh.

I guided them to a couple seats even as Mei and Shizune exited the room to retrieve dinner. This was going to be entertaining, and I made sure to retrieve enough sake to see Tsunade and Tazuna happy. Maou save me from heavy drinkers and bad gamblers.

The dinner was excellent at least, and Kushina didn't make too much fun of me, mostly because I took it with grace and didn't get flustered about it. She left dinner first, taking Naruto to bed and saying goodnight to us. Shizune was next, citing more work to set up the clinic properly. Tazuna and Tsunami finally left in order to get home before too late, and Krueger patiently escorted them back for me. As for me? I don't really remember what happened after that, but I'm sure I made an ass out of myself somehow. Damage control was a necessary skill as a Devil.

* * *

(Krueger POV)

It's been one week since my King decided he needed to travel the land, and the paperwork the man had piled up in his everlasting quest to learn his chakra control was a nightmare for me to deal with. Thankfully Mei had the authority to sign for Zekros-sama, so anything that was out of my hands could be passed onto her. I spent most of the time balancing the books, and our situation was actually slightly better than first glance.

Zekros-sama had sent off a package of summoning flyers to Konoha upon request of the Hokage. Several of them were specifically for Tsunade herself, in case of medical emergency requiring her. A few were even from Zekros-sama, though they could someone anyone if enough desire was put into the summoning. Kushina had apparently be summoned by the Kakashi boy, much to her amusement. She reported the boy still hadn't recovered from all the deaths in his life, but he was slowly making his way.

It was important for one to accept death is unavoidable, no matter how long you delay it. At least, once your own grieving process was over. The thought helped me far more than I gave it credit for, but I was stubborn about that. And I still had a few things to get past myself before I'd consider it.

A small trickle of money was flowing in, from the residents of town summoning us, or from Konoha summons. When you factored in the costs we were going to save on cutting the lumber for building from our own lands, a small cushion appeared in the budgets. This was further added to by a small percentage coming from what Kushina had invested in, as the 'parent group' we got a cut. That woman I rarely saw outside of meal times, scheduled meetings, or being dragged around by the other women, though we managed to communicate well. They were practically dog piling in order to help her with Naruto, so she had more than enough time to start investing her inheritances.

Tsunade had been supposed to invest into the hospital in Konoha, but she pushed that project on Shizune almost immediately. A quick piece of advice, in the form of a note, had her investing in some of the medicinal plant growers in their former village as well. And I do mean actual plants used in medicine, and not the herbs I was forced to smell on the Hokage during our travels.

My King was actually extremely difficult at accepting any gifts from friends, though he'd practically accept all of a business partners money. He would however, provide free advice about things to invest on, and how to look at market interest, and recieves a cut of the profits anyways so it's not like he really refused for no reason.

We were actually closer to twice what we hadly earlier thought of, but Zekros-sama was still intending to travel as soon as he got the summoning jutsu down properly. I was glad my training was simpler than what he had to do, though I will admit sticking to the walls and walking on water were interesting, but we had wings. With a combination of wings and teleportation our travel potential was vastly superior to most others, even if we had to usually have been somewhere to do it.

Honestly the summoning flyers were a way to teleport somewhere you had never been, but while they had protections against someone with malicious intent summoning us that didn't mean that a person couldn't be tricked, so we kept those to places we deemed friendly once we started making them.

I sighed softly as I could hear the cry of 'Summoning Jutsu' drift up through the open window. I glanced out the window and saw a black five-tailed fox appear that seemed to send Bane into a panic. It was odd seeing that confident little fox bowing down before another, maybe it was his father? Oh well he was a young fox, he'd grow into his tails.

I couldn't quite here what they were saying, the silencing spell I had placed upon the window kept out all but the loudest noises. Which implied that my King was being especially loud today, oh well Tsunade shall sort him out quickly enough. She had actually gone up to him and demanded another date before he left, or she would chase him down and haul him to the nearest clinic to neuter him. It was a rather terrifying threat in general, and much worse coming from someone like Tsunade, who could easily do it in the field if she was feeling really viscious.

Once again affirming my belief in avoiding the ire of the females in the Peerage, I returned back to the paperwork in front of me. The current paper was an request for escort from Konoha to Wave, from the captains we had hired. Huh, that was interesting. Maybe Shizune and Mei would like to take it. They could drop our King off with a halfway teleport before they completed the trip to Konoha. I'd better write that down somewhere.

Better yet, I should take this to Zekros-sama now. I'm sure he could use the break. _'Though it is likely Lady Tsunade will work him twice as hard because of the break,'_ I thought with a snicker, as I gathered the relevant papers.

As I was exiting the house and my King entered my vision, he used another summoning jutsu. This time however, even I could feel the magic and chakra heavy in the air, feeling the great amount effort he had put into it. The heavy smoke from the summoning blew out around us, restricting vision at whoever he had summoned.

"Who could have possibly summoned _me_ to _this_ realm?" I hear a delicate and refined voice ask.

"And who are you?" Zekros replied as the smoke started to clear.

Standing elegantly in front of us, nine golden tails waving idly in the air, was a blonde woman of great beauty. From what my King has told me, there was only one lady like that. "I am Yasaka of the Yokai, may I ask who you are?"

Oh just what kind of stupidity has been brought upon me now. Sweet merciful Maou.

* * *

(Zekros Gremory POV)

I may have just suddenly developed a thing for blondes. The vision before was a perfect ten in my eyes. Or maybe that was my fox instincts now, because I was having to fight the urge to kneel before her like Bane was doing. So this was the Princess of the Kitsune. What a gem before me, no wonder the fox summons spoke about her every chance they got.

Forcing myself to meet her eyes and not let my eyes drop to the cleavage her kimono was showing, I bowed slightly. "I am Zekros Gremory, Yasaka-hime."

An elegant eyebrow rose slightly. "Well you have _some_ manners, for a criminal." She smiled slightly as I winced. "You wouldn't happen to be the reason one of my cute little relatives came back with a ridiculous tale about my grandfather, would you?"

Well there was no reason to deny it, I didn't actually _mean_ for this to occur. "Ah, yes, that would be me." My tails waved slightly behind me, though I was feeling an odd thrum along my spine. "Would you happen to be aware of my crime, and perhaps any news since then? We've been here for several weeks now."

"Hmm, well they said you stole a second set of those Evil Pieces, with an incomplete Peerage to begin with." I smiled slightly at her, nodding along. "You then used a stolen book of spells and transported yourself away. You managed to land yourself here, a place we refuse to admit the existance of to outsiders."

I blinked at the slightly hostile last part of that. "Yes well when I performed the spell, my Knight and I were pulled slightly off course during the teleportation. I managed to land smack dab in the middle of a ritual, my Knight not far away."

Her eyes narrowed at me. "What kind of ritual?"

"A sealing ritual Lady Yasaka," Bane spoke up. "It seems they were... sealing Lord Kurama, apparently not for the first time."

"Is that where he's been all these years?" The beautiful woman became visibly angered. "Who dared to try to seal my grandfather away! The Kitsune will not stand for this," she hissed.

I didn't actually know how to answer that, as Kushina hadn't explained much more than that to me either. Though I had been slightly avoiding being alone with her, I didn't really deal well with emotions and didn't want to bring something up and upset her. Thankfully Bane seemed to have the answers she needed.

"He was sealed a long time ago my Lady. A man had controlled him and forced him to attack his rival, and that man sealed him into his wife." Wait, what? That was interesting. "Following this, as she aged she transferred Lord Kurama to a younger relative."

"That would be me," I heard Kushina call from behind me. "I was the second host."

"And where is my grandfather now?" Lady Yasaka asked. "What ritual did this devil interrupt, and why is this known Pureblood Devil now a Kitsune?"

Kushina gave a slight grimace at the memory. "I had given birth, after gaining the cooperation of the Kyuubi so that he wouldn't try any mischief. When my son came along, a masked man appeared and... well the fox eventually got unsealed." She took a shallow breath, appearing shaken.

Krueger stepped up and put a hand on her shoulder, giving her a smile. She returned a soft look back before glancing at the kyuubi in front of her. I could see a slightly firmer look come to rest on her face as she gathered herself.

"This man also had a Sharingan capable of controlling the Kyuubi, and he turned him on Konoha once more. My husband offered up his soul to the Shinigami to summon him and seal the demon into my newborn son, since I was too weak to have it resealed into me after the birth and unsealing." She took a deeper breath this time, the firm mask staying in place. "At the end of the battle, as my husband Minato and I were dying from our injuries, the Kyuubi was about to be sealed. And then in the middle of the sealing, a sarcastic redhead appeared."

"And that would be me of course," I said dryly. "Whatever pulled my teleport in is unknown to me, but I do know whatever sealing they were attempting failed. That fox wasn't sealed into me, I absorbed it. Or at least most of it, a portion seemed to vanish partway through, followed by another small amount. Of course, I'm blaming my adaptive Gremory blood, but I wouldn't put it past outside influence. Or even my spell somehow going wrong." I shrugged before bowing more deeply to Yasaka. "Greetings fair maiden, I am the Kitsune/Devil hybrid known as Zekros Gremory. I'm also a fair businessman."

The young kyuubi raised her sleeve and giggled behind it, causing me to blush slightly. I was having odd reactions and impulses around her. I actually wouldn't put it past Bane to have intentionally not told me about this if he could have, sneaky fox.

"Well have no fear Zekros-san, I have no interest in the Underworld's criminals. And I also have no doubt my grandfather will eventually reform from his... adventures." She smiled lightly at me now, mischief sparking in her gaze. "And you're our new Fox Summoner are you? I could work with this, I suppose. Of course it just wouldn't be proper for me not to stay around and observe you, now would it?"

"Lady Yasaka!" Bane gasped.

"Oh hush Bane, do you know how rare it is I get summoned here?" The little fox backed down when she glanced at him. "You wouldn't mind me too much, would you Zekros-san?" Holy hell, I've never actually seen a woman bat her eyes like that.

"Of course not," I replied, shifting slightly. That feeling in my spine was slowly growing, and just being within a few feet of this woman was sending my hormones nuts. "There's a potential summoner I'd like to introduce to you, of course. I was informed you wouldn't like it if another signed before the scroll was returned."

"That's great." She paused to frown in thought, tapping her chin with a single slender finger. "Just... how much of Grandfather's chakra did you absorb?"

"I'd say about five tails worth of it," Kushina informed her.

Yasaka blinked briefly, being eyeing me over once again. "Oh yes, you'll do."

"Uh, do what, exactly?" I asked, concerned with the look in her eyes.

"No worries, just talking to myself," she smiled.

I decided my best course of action was to drop it, and after accepting whatever file of papers it was that Krueger handed me, I led Yasaka-hime on a search for Mei. I also retrieved the contract and returned it to the Fox Princess like I was supposed to, though the smile I was given was more predatory than anything. My Avarice was practically quivering and I had no clue why.

End.

* * *

A/N: I could have probably made this chapter longer, but it would have been a bunch of pointless small talk and writing that drives me nuts. Probably because most of my interactions are with long time friends and 'small talk' tends to involve video games or jokes.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry for the delay, I was unable to focus much time in writing. Also I'm basically using the Naruto map on the wiki, because it's the easiest way to do it. (Though I think I may have doubled or tripled Wave's size, meh, I like it.) Oh and Zekros and Krueger don't always _think_ the honorifics for most people (though Zekros' insticts are affecting him in regards to Yasaka) because they are obviously Euro and not fully used to it, even with the Devil translation power. Which I still find op and entirely necessary at the same time, like the Sharingan. I also pushed back the debut of an age altered friend for a couple chapters, for flow reasons.

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Highschool DxD so, you know, whatever.**

* * *

 **Chapter IV: Preparations and Destinations**

(Zekros Gremory POV)

Mei-chan and Yasaka-hime seemed to get along perfectly. To be honest, once the conversation turned to talking about kimonos I tuned them out. And then the kitsune woman informed me that she was serious that she'd be observing me for a long while yet, and I'd better get used to her presence. I had a feeling this was going to require me to sacrifice a few ideas for my travels. A shame, truly, but at least it would not stop me.

Mei also took to summoning like a fish out of water. And she kept shooting me looks which made me feel that I'd need to start my trip sooner rather than later. First though I'd have to adjust to having Yasaka along with me, and I had a date with Tsunade to plan. Though that wasn't actually all that hard, I'd found the perfect cliff over the sea to picnic on. A walk along the beach would be nice as well.

"So what will be our first destination, Zekros-san?" It seemed Mei had told her of my plans yesterday.

I groaned in the privacy of my mind, before I realized I was just being an idiot. A beautiful woman hanging around is just about the most commonly accepted desire for men.

"I was thinking Kumogakure seems like an interesting first stop," I replied without looking up from the papers I was reading. "It would also allow me to look into acquiring proper weaponry as well, since that land is rather known for their kenjutsu. I'll also be trying to take the odd job while I travel."

"Oh that sounds interesting, what kind of jobs?" Yasaka was eyeing me with amusement, her tails shiftly idly.

My lower back was still feeling weird, but I gave it no attention. "I have no idea, actually. I'll decide what to accept when they come my way." I winced slightly as a shot of pain went up my spine.

"You're feeling it already," Yasaka muttered softly.

"Feeling what exactly?" I asked, as another shiver of pain went through me.

Yasaka shrugged slightly, doing marvelous things to her figure. "Grandfather was extremely powerful. Three tails worth of his power is about equal to another kyuubi, it is why he is known as 'The Kyuubi' among people." She gave me a small smile as she licked her lips. "Depending on just how much chakra you absorbed from Grandfather, and your own power, you could potentially become a new kyuubi."

I blinked once, then twice. "What do you mean by 'become a new kyuubi', exactly?"

"You're going to manifest another tail soon darling," she giggled at the shock on my face. "Oh don't worry, you just need to sleep well at night. I'm sure you'll notice a loss of balance one morning but it shouldn't be too bad. Though, I was born with nine tails so I don't know how off you'll feel."

I gave a slight grumble as I pulsed my magic through the Evil Pieces of my combat capable servants, focusing on tuning out Tazuna, Tsunade, and Tsunami during the call. As everyone gathered together I realized it was likely I'd need a rather large office in our residence, so I jotted that down on a notepad beside me. Kushina was the last to arrive, likely having been with Naruto or attending to her own new investments.

"We have an escort request," I informed my people. "I don't particularly have any preferences over who takes this, it's a rather simple trip from Konoha to here while protecting the clients. I'll be teleporting myself, Yasaka-hime, and whoever decides to go halfway to Konoha. After that you can make the trip yourself."

"I'll go Zekros-sama," Shizune volunteered. "I can take the time to buy some more medical supplies and check on a few things."

"I'd go myself, but I don't want to leave little Naru-chan that long just yet." Honestly, I hadn't expected a different answer from Kushina. "Though if someone could deliver letters to Mikoto-chan and Kashi-kun for me, I'd be grateful."

That also didn't surprise me, seeing as two of the people who'd summoned her after we sent those flyers were Mikoto Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake. She'd returned one night with the best bowl of ramen I'd ever experienced. Mmm, beef.

"I can deliver the letters Kushina-san," Mei offered. "I think I'll enjoy seeing the village."

I was busy doing math in my head and figuring out when would be the best time to depart. I had a date at the end of the week, so leaving after the weekend would be nice. Yes, I guess that will do.

"Ok, since you both are going I'm sending Krueger along." My loyal werewolf Knight stared at me in surprise. "You're Jonin level Krueger, they are both Chunin level. It's simply wiser to send you along until we can fill the Peerage a bit more."

He gave in with a sigh, nodding and then leaving the room, likely to begin gathering his gear. He should just be happy I needed him here to help run things or I'd drag him along with me. I still couldn't decide if Yasaka-hime accompanying me was a good thing.

"Zekros-sama," Shizune called, catching my attention. "Tsunade-sama wanted me to inform you that she had passed the message along to Jiraiya-sama along with Hokage-sama. Apparently they said they'd look into passing the missions that Konoha wouldn't accept for various reasons along to us."

"Well that's useful," I replied. "Sometimes for political reasons one group is unable to do a job and will pass on it. Us getting these missions would be beneficial in the long run, I'm sure."

When everyone finally cleared out of my office, I breathed a sigh of relief before I realized I wasn't truly alone. It seems my other Queen had been listening in, how amusing.

"Come on out Tsunade," I said, causing her to drop in through the window. "Remind me to place privacy seals around my office when it's completed, would you?"

Tsunade snickered softly. "I'm sure Kushina would be rather helpful. But that's not why I'm here."

"No doubt," I replied as I turned to smile at her. "What do you need?"

"Sensei has passed along a request, strictly off the records," she told me. "He wants you to enter Konoha discreetly and meet with him. He said something about an investigation needing to be done."

"Chance of battle?" I asked.

She nodded slightly, "There's potential for it, yes."

"Why did you have Shizune deliver that message and not give me it yourself? And why won't he just summon me with a flyer?"

A snicker came from the busty blonde, "Deniability of course."

Tsunade left a few minutes later, after confirming out date this Friday. I closed the open window with a sigh, thinking about how many different spells I was going to have to layer on myself to enter Konoha without people noticing me. Oh Maou, Yasaka-hime would likely need a bunch of illusions as well.

I was going to have to touch up on my illusion magic. Yasaka-hime might be able to help in that regard, but I had this disturbing feeling I would likely find myself regretting asking. The things I do for business. 

* * *

(Krueger POV)

I'd been assigned another job. This was disappointing, as I had finally managed to get our accounts in order. Not to mention that work had finally been started on our new residence, though it was still in the land clearing phase. The trees that we cut were being sent to be turned into proper materials, and Tazuna had been going to the land and drawing plans for the bridges we would need. Well, at least it was all going smoothly at the moment.

At least I had a few days to get everything set up for my absence, even if it would be only a few days. Things tend to go wrong immediately after our eyes are taken off them, so Kushina or Tsunade would need to keep their attention towards the projects. Damn, I'd entirely forgot about sewage, we'd have to deal with that as well, better alert someone to that.

I wrote the note and then sought Kushina. I found the woman slowly rocking her son's crib, a soft smile on her face. I knocked politely on the open door, waiting for her to look up and wave me in. Nothing the rather large pile of paperwork she had on her table, I gave her an amused look as I passed her my note.

"I'll look into it Krueger," she told me after giving it a quick read. "How have you been?" I shrugged my shoulders slightly. "Does it get better?"

I shook my head as I held up my right hand, pulling my notepad out with my left. I scribbled a short note, _It gets different_ , before turning it around to her. The woman had lost her people once before, including her parents, during the fall of her homeland. She'd then lost the last family member she knew not long after.

"I understand," Kushina muttered. "I still wish things were better though."

It took me a moment to write my response, as I was thinking it over. _Yes. But you still have the chance to shape things, don't lose sight of that._ When I'd paused in writing the message, I took a short look at Naruto sleeping in his crib. His whisker marks were amusing, but I was getting a strange feeling from him, almost like... well, that would be fitting. _I think you should get Lady Yasaka and Lady Tsunade to take another look at Naruto,_ I finished, passing it over.

She raised an eyebrow at that, but nodded and said she'd do so. I didn't pry into what she meant by that, and quickly left the woman. Sometimes it was better to retreat than to stay, and this was definitely one of them. I was going to be amused by the reactions from the rest of the peerage, that was for sure.

The next morning greeted me with an annoyed King, two amused Queens, and an enthusiastic Rook. Apparently Zekros-sama was grumbling because eventually he wouldn't be the only male kitsune around, since little Naruto was expected to manifest kitsune traits in a few months. Mei was giggling at Zekros-sama while Tsunade openly laughed at him.

"I'm no longer feeling the love," the red haired man complained.

"That's ok Zekros-san," Yasaka-hime said as she entered the room, "I like you just fine."

After we'd all gotten our laughs out of the way, well I snickered lightly, Kushina and I brought up the need for a sewer system. At least, Kushina did, and I nodded and shook my head depending on what I was asked. I still have no idea why people find talking to me so refreshing, but it gives me more headaches than I need.

My day wasn't actually all that exciting, mostly spent acquiring more explosive tags and sealing scrolls for Zekros-sama and his journey. I also had the realization that we should plan for other clans potentially moving here, and that we'd likely need to ensure our population was supported properly.

I retired late that evening, content with the fact that I had finished all of my paperwork. Truthfully that was normally something to celebrate over, but I made sure to keep up with it so I never let it pile up too bad. Zekros-sama was happily acquiring more servants to do more work for him, seeming to snicker away all the while, but he would eventually be the victim of massive paperwork piles. It was only a matter of time after all.

* * *

(Zekros Gremory)

When I'd read Krueger's memo Friday morning, I got an earful of clan history from some of my Peerage women when I asked Kushina for advice, since her people had known this island well. She'd then called in Tsunade, who was descended from an Uzumaki, and Mei, who was from the Terumi clan that had ties in the very distant 'd taken me to discuss it over lunch, for the simple reason that we were all from clans.

I gave them a basic rundown of the Gremory Clan, how we treated how servants, victories and defeats during wars, and whatnot. Tsunade and Kushina taught me more about Uzushio and Konoha, along with the Senju and Uzumaki Clans. Their relationship with the Uchiha Clan was interesting, along with the history of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, two of the most powerful ninja in history.

When Mei had talked about Kiri and the bloody history there I had to pause and think about all she'd said. The Academy practices alone cemented the place a brutal reputation, and their ninja reinforced the image. The Terumi Clan apparently had a lot of Lava Release and Boil Release bloodlines in it, and she was the product of two such members marriage. The sad part was that they were all the last of their clans, well the Uzumaki also had Naruto but he was a baby.

When it came to clans I knew far more after that discussion than I'd ever thought to expect. So yes, they advised, I'd likely to have to buy more land in my bid to become Daimyo and gather people to work for me. I'd also likely need more farms than I'd expect if I wanted to sustain my Peerage off of my land. Technically, the whole island would likely become one big village, but we weren't worried about that happening for a long time.

Those plans were put off for now though, on account of the fact that we wouldn't be in position to buy more land for a few years yet. Plus I had to get ready for my date with Tsunade, and there was no way I was going to half ass that. Just thinking about her reaction made me shiver slightly.

This time when she came down the stairs while I was waiting with a picnic basket, it took me more than a few seconds to drag my eyes off of her figure clad in a sundress. "You look amazing, as usual Tsunade," I complimented.

She smiled before she gave me a quick peck on the cheek, "I'm looking forward to whatever it is you have planned. Kushina was telling me I'd really enjoy it."

"Of course you will, I go to the girls for advice," I snorted while guiding her out of the villa. "I run my ideas past them if I'm having trouble deciding."

"So I can blame them if anything goes wrong?" She asks with a laugh.

I shrugged and shifted the basket I was carrying. "If you want to." Not that I'd allow a date to go that badly if I could help it. "Now c'mon, I want to get there before the sun gets too far down."

We were able to follow the beach up for a fair ways, so we took the chance to walk in the sand and laugh at water lapping at our ankles. Thankfully we'd carried our footwear, because I just knew my geta would get me stuck in the sand knowing my luck. Seeing Tsunade kick a crab that had tried to pinch her toe into the sky was hilarious, and she started to blush when I laughed at it.

We'd arrived at the seaside cliff I'd picked out after a bit, carefully settling down on a blanket I'd packed in the basket. Once I'd laid out the food I had had to beg Mei to help me make, I took a moment to admire the woman in front of me. Her pale green sundress went well with her coloring, coming down to her calves and showing off her figure fantastically. She caught me looking at her breasts after that, causing me to cough and look away while she laughed.

"This all looks wonderful," she commented as she eyed the mix of mix spread before her.

I still wasn't entirely sure how Kushina had managed to con that Jiraiya man into rigging up seals to keep the baskets contents at a constant level, but considering the brownies and the meat dishes were at the perfect temperatures I wasn't going to complain that she'd made me buy them. We had excellent steak, curry, my brownies, sake, and salads all laid out on the blanket.

"You'd better come back, you know," Tsunade warned me as she cut into her steak. "No dying on me."

Despite the light tone she said it in, I could hear the underlying tension in her voice. "Getting attached to me, Tsunade- _chan_?" My obvious teasing was treated with a mock glare. "No worries, I don't plan on dying any time soon. And besides, Yasaka-hime will be traveling with me and she can more than handle herself."

Tsunade sighed briefly. "I can't help but worry though," she muttered."I like the people here, and I wouldn't them all broken up."

"I'll be fine Tsunade," I reassured her. "And I can always send out a call for you guys to teleport to if I need to."

It was several more minutes of eating before she finally gave in to the urge for brownies, and I watched as the pile slowly disappeared along with the sake. This of course was followed by me teasing her about my brownies, and her grumbling about dumb foxes and annoying redheads. Our conversation ended when we turned to watch the sunset, neither of us really needing to say anything else.

Seeing the colors of the sky changing out over the sea was beautiful. It was a comfortable silence that accompanied us home that night, during another relaxing walk along the beach. She gave me another peck to the cheek before she went to her rooms, and I retired for the night with a smile on my face.

Yasaka-hime and forced me to spend the entire weekend practicing my illusions, and I suffered through many banged noses and toes when she decided to include training with detecting illusions. I'd managed to get to where she deemed me 'adequate' and thanked the Maou when she let me relax on the last night.

Honestly I had no clue how I had managed to pick up on illusions as swiftly as I had, but when I'd awakened this morning with my new third tail, I figured it had to do with being a kitsune. Yasaka-hime grinned rather smugly when she saw my new tail waving behind me, and I'd discovered the fox insticts were rather strong currently. It took all my willpower not to break down like a blushing fangirl, and I would never allow myself to stoop to such levels.

I checked my travel pack once again, sighing when I saw all of the storage scrolls I was being forced to carry. It was rather annoying, but Yasaka-hime had packed several of her own into my bag. When she'd done it though, she gave me a brief peck on my cheek and a giggle before walking away with her tails waving. It too me more than a few moments to realize the game she was playing at, and I smirked when I caught the light grin on Tsunade's face when she rolled her eyes.

The Evil Piece used to reincarnate Tsunade probably eased up some of her responses towards the difference between devil and human beliefs and habits. The fact that she currently wasn't tearing Yasaka-hime or myself apart lent credit to this theory. Though I had noticed the two of them conspiring with Mei, walking around in a small group and going quiet whenever I tried to draw near. Those three were definitely up to something.

Regardless, once we were all assembled and said our goodbyes, I had to focus on what I was doing. Teleporting someone who isn't in the Peerage, in this case Yasaka-hime, took more concentration that without. You could honestly end up in an area that is entirely unknown to you if you weren't careful. As the red light from my clans crest filled the area I gave one final wave to the others that were to remain behind, and that I likely wouldn't see soon. 

* * *

(Zekros Gremory POV)

"Are you sure you can't come to Konoha with us, Zekros-sama?" Mei asked for probably the sixth time.

"I'm sure, Mei-chan," I replied with a smile. "Make sure to have a bit of fun though, ok?"

Mei gave me and Yasaka-hime each a hug, and Krueger and Shizune nodded to me, and then they teleported off. I led Yasaka-hime off towards the northeast, intent on coming in from a different direction and maybe a day later if we needed to. I was asked to be discreet, after all.

Traveling through the trees was always an interesting experience, and we listened to the sounds of nature as we jumped among the branches. The tree climbing exercises that I had been forced to practice came in use here, as I would grip the tree ever so slightly to prepare my jumps better. I was busy reinforcing the illusions that covered myself, and trying not to let them break suddenly.

If such a thing occured, a nightmare of problems would then follow. I disliked the kinds of issues which would likely come about in that scenario, they were bad for business and money. As I was busy thinking over the horror of such a thing, I didn't notice Yasaka-hime trying to get my attention until she pinched my ear.

"We should go further east, build some distance for us to be seen traveling towards Konoha," she demanded with a pout.

I was still busy rubbing the pain out of my earlobe, but I agreed with her idea. "It's rather odd to jump through trees with a wakizashi," I told her as I followed. "I haven't worn a sword for extended periods of time except for when I trained in my younger days."

Yasaka laughed at that, "Be grateful Kushina-chan had a spare for you to use. And it fits your role of 'Yusuke-san' very well."

"Why yes 'Lady Akiko' I believe it does." I had put extra emphasis on her name as she had mine.

She giggled at my grumbling, and we settled into silence for a time as I practiced a leaf sticking exercise as we moved. It would be several hours before either of us heard a sound that didn't come from the forest, and as expected Yasaka-hime heard it first.

Being dragged by my ankle to the road we were about to jump over, I was forced to bite my tongue at questioning the blonde when cries of 'Youth!' finally registered to my ears. I went still in shock as a green blur flew past me, only to stop in a great cloud of dust slightly up the road.

"Youth!" _'Dear Maou, what in the Underworld was that?'_ I didn't get a chance to react as in another burst of speed a teenager in green spandex appeared before us. "Greetings Youthful travelers, I am Konoha's Sublime Green Beast, Maito Gai!" The teen gave a typical 'nice guy' pose, complete with the ping of his teeth.

Considering I had used an illusion to look my actual age of thirty, and that I had to play as Yasaka's common faced 'guard' retainer, I stepped forward. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Gai-san," I put on my most friendly smile. Time to establish the disguise. "My name is Yusuke. Would you by chance be returning to Konohagakure?"

"Indeed I am, my Fires of Youth are burning brightly in excitement of seeing my Youthful home!" I was left blinking for several moments by his statement, before I just deemed him 'insane' and moved on with it.

"Might I enquire as to the road conditions, I would rather Lady Akiko not be harassed by anyone." The blonde beauty, who had muted her hair color and softened her features, waved from a few feet behind me. "She has expressed her desire to see your village, and as her retainer it is my duty to protect her on her travels."

I'm not sure what exactly set the teenager off, but he somehow managed to convince himself that his 'Springtime of Youth' demanded he escort the beautiful maiden to his 'Village of Youth' and Yasaka-hime and I just smiled politely and thanked him. To be entirely honest, the man had far too much energy for me to be comfortable around him, but he was a nice enough gentleman at least. As we were following the man, at an annoyingly slow civilian pace so that our act was safe, I let Yasaka-hime ask him questions about his home.

The woman had the innocent act down to a form of art, which fit perfectly with her dismissing my paranoia and nerves as protectiveness. We'd gone so far as to hire a messenger during the weekend to deliver notice of a visting minor noblewoman, though Tsunade had inserted a code that she said only the Hokage would understand to announce ourselves. I didn't particularly like this type of intrigue, but I was patient and smart enough to see the benefits.

Gai was a cheerful individual, happy and carefree on the surface, but I could sense the shinobi behind the mask. A few more years of experience and he might just be able to see behind masks as well as I could, seeing as he already picked up a vibe from me. This was offset by Yasaka supplying him with the story that I was a distant relative of hers that was still recovering mentally from a civil war.

Our exuberant traveling companion easily took the chance to ask me if I was a shinobi, but I laughed his question off and explained that I only knew a few chakra control exercises. My skills in kenjutsu weren't very extensive, as I'd never put the same amount of effort into a blade as my Knight had, no matter how many times I'd fought him, so my humble explanation of being assigned to guard 'Lady Akiko' because I was very good at spotting the untrustworthy folks.

It hurt my pride to compare myself to the average bandit leader in skill level, but if I bragged about my true strength it would obviously give me away. The man seemed more than happy with what little I'd been willing to share, and I realized that Yasaka had used a little magic to make the man accept us easier. She smirked at my raised eyebrow when I'd caught her eye, and then asked Gai about flowers and animals that could be found around his village. I misjudged just how sneaky that woman was, I need to keep an eye on her.

Unfortunately a small measure of Killing Intent started setting my senses off partway through the day, and I knew for sure that Gai sensed it from behind us as I could see him trying very hard to keep the happy mask up. A brief moment of eye contact made me realize that neither of us knew the source of it, so I slowed my step to fall behind Yasaka.

"Bandits," Yasaka whispered to me as I walked beside her briefly.. Her hearing was far more sensitive than mine, as she knew how to properly boost her senses with her powers. "Nasty fools, but while they might not deem you too dangerous Yusuke-san, they don't wish to fight Gai-san. They seem to be considering leaving."

"Can you tell me how many there are, Lady Akiko?" Gai's question was near silent, and I barely caught it. "I cannot allow deviants such as that to exist this close to Konoha."

"Only four Gai-san, but-" she didn't get to finish as he'd already vanished in a swirl of leaves.

I glanced back at the sounds of thuds, groaning, and pained swearing. Hanging upside down from a tree were four rather plain, if rather scruffy, bound men. Gai was standing on the branch above them in a nice guy pose, teeth gleeming while the wind brushed his hair. I have no desire to understand how he managed to get his teeth to ping every time he struck that pose, and from the looks of it even Yasaka-hime didn't wish to know.

"Are you just going to leave them there, Gai-san?" Yasaka asked as the teen jumped down and started along the road.

"I've left a shadow clone to watch over them, and I can have another run ahead to Konoha." Gai gave a wide smile, "It would be unyouthful of me to leave you travelers alone on these roads."

"Oh no Gai-san, I'm sure Yusuke-san could protect me." She put a finger to her chin, obviously in thought. "How far away are we anyway?"

"We should arrive there late tomorrow afternoon," Gai replied. "Your travels would likely have been faster if you were not afoot, my lady."

"But then I wouldn't get to see all this lovely countryside." The blonde then shrugged and continued walking as if nothing had happened.

"I will never understand women," I muttered quietly under my breath.

Gai had indeed sent a shadow clone ahead of us, and then started to walk on his hands. Yasaka-hime and I exchanged looks but remained silent, again just brushing off his strange behavior. I'd firmly come to believe all ninja were insane after spending time with Kushina, Mei, and Tsunade while Yasaka-hime just seemed amused by it all. Honestly it seemed like everything amused her.

When we had settled down for the night, Gai was entirely too amused by me having to put up Yasaka's tent, though he was nice and assisted me. "So what do you do when you aren't escorting Lady Akiko around Yusuke-san?" Gai looked a little more amused as he tended to the campfire. "No offense, it just seems to me not to be your normal habit."

"That's correct," I grunted. "I'm a businessman by trade, fighter by need, explorer for fun, and apparently unlucky enough to interest the girl."

"Lady Akiko is interested in you?" Gai's eyes were wide, but I could see the smirk he was fighting off.

"Hmm. I wasn't planning on heading to Konoha on this trip, or having her along, hence my lack of transport or escort." I took the time to sip my tea, thankful that Gai at least had skill in the art of tea making. "When I had realized she was following me around it was too late to send her back, and there was no way I was delaying my trip just because of her."

"Are you going to hire an escort to return her home?" He put another branch into the fire before he returned Yasaka's wave as she disappeared into her tent.

I snorted softly in amusement. "She'd just follow me again. It seems I am stuck with her on this trip."

Gai just smiled before I finished my cup of tea and bid him a good night. I'd take a later watch of my own of course, but the green clad teenager might just stay awake during that or leave a clone up for it. As I covered myself in blankets, I put my sword a short distance away from my hand for an easier time drawing it. I've got to be careful outside of villages after all.

* * *

End. 

* * *

A/N: I find myself forced to restrain Gai's Youthfulness so that I don't make him seem _too_ insane :D I find myself spending more time coming up with and discarding lines than I'd like to admit sometimes though, but I wanted things to continue without getting bogged down and slowed while in Wave. The next time we see our island it will likely be more than amusing, though it will be a bit before Zekros himself returns. Poor Krueger is going to be stuck there with all those crazy women, haha.


End file.
